Breakfast?

Now, if the truth is known, there is not anyone who enjoys eating more than me.  I especially love pizza... and for breakfast, well, cold pizza is a delight.  But this????  This is just not on the menu for me; beans and an egg on a pizza?  I would have to gracefully decline and besides, I really don't even know what the ingredients are on the lower right side??????  Sometimes life surprises you and "huh" is the best you can muster.  Here is an episode from the book of Acts that was quite surprising to me; see if it is to you as well....

Acts 8:5-40 (WEB)
5) Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed to them the Christ.
6) The multitudes listened with one accord to the things that were spoken by Philip, when they heard and saw the signs which he did.
7) For unclean spirits came out of many of those who had them. They came out, crying with a loud voice. Many who had been paralyzed and lame were healed.
8) There was great joy in that city.
9) But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who used to practice sorcery in the city, and amazed the people of Samaria, making himself out to be some great one,
10) to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is that great power of God.”
11) They listened to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his sorceries.
12) But when they believed Philip preaching good news concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
13) Simon himself also believed. Being baptized, he continued with Philip. Seeing signs and great miracles occurring, he was amazed.
14) Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,
15) who, when they had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit;
16) for as yet he had fallen on none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of Christ Jesus.
17) Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18) Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,
19) saying, “Give me also this power, that whomever I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20) But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!
21) You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart isn’t right before God.
22) Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and ask God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
23) For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”
24) Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that none of the things which you have spoken happen to me.”
25) They therefore, when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, returned to Jerusalem, and preached the Good News to many villages of the Samaritans.
26) But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert.”
27) He arose and went; and behold, there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship.
28) He was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.
29) The Spirit said to Philip, “Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.”
30) Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31) He said, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” He begged Philip to come up and sit with him.
32) Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he doesn’t open his mouth.
33) In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. Who will declare His generation? For his life is taken from the earth.”
34) The eunuch answered Philip, “Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?”
35) Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him Jesus.
36) As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?”
37)
38) He commanded the chariot to stand still, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
39) When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch didn’t see him any more, for he went on his way rejoicing.
40) But Philip was found at Azotus. Passing through, he preached the Good News to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.

Jesus, the apostles and then others, this was the pecking order of importance.  Yet Philip was chosen to do quite a work, something that even amazed Simon (the great??).  He had power and was chosen directly by The Holy Spirit to do work.  So, even though he was in the "others" category he was used by God.  To me, the level of what God did with him is important here, for he is a lot like us today.... he wasn't an apostle of Jesus and yet God still used him.  God can use each of us for something special and even though it may not be spectacular like Philip, yet God works in his own way and that is marvelous to consider.  So, in a way, the unusual becomes the norm, but not in the case of the pizza because no matter how much you dare me, I AM NOT HAVING THIS THING FOR BREAKFAST!!!!!!!!!!!!

Scary fast!!!

This little baby goes 675 kilometers per hour!!!  That's not just fast, its scary fast!!!  So is its driver.  It takes a certain craziness to do things like that; I guess you just have to be zealous enough for what you like doing to run something like this.  When I saw this picture, I immediately thought of someone from the Old Testament.  Here is the passage from the book of Second Kings and I think you will see it as well.

2 Kings 9:20-26 (WEB)
20) The watchman said, “He came to them, and isn’t coming back. The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he drives furiously.”
21) Joram said, “Get ready!” They got his chariot ready. Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.
22) It happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace, so long as the prostitution of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft abound?”
23) Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, “There is treason, Ahaziah!”
24) Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and struck Joram between his arms; and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.
25) Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Pick him up, and throw him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how, when you and I rode together after Ahab his father, Yahweh laid this burden on him:
26) ‘Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons,’ says Yahweh; ‘and I will repay you in this plot of ground,’ says Yahweh. Now therefore take and cast him onto the plot of ground, according to the word of Yahweh.”

Jehu is a hard person person to forget because he the essence of enthusiasm!!!  Yet, I have to look a little deeper into this situation, for the God of Heaven put it into Jehu's heart to be this way.  People forget that God remembers the wrong that men do.  Jehu was an instrument of God's will and as such he was terrifying!!!  God's justice may take awhile to be accomplished, but it does happen and when it does... its scary fast!!!!!

Don't play with fire!!!!

German shepherd's can be wonderful dogs, yet they can also be very tough and intimidating.  I still remember my in-laws dog, Suzie.  A beautiful loving family dog, she was great with kids and very affectionate.  What I remember about her most though was the way she obeyed my father-in-law; whatever he told her to do... she just did it.  One day he told her to guard the front porch of the farmhouse with a stern: GUARD, SUZIE!!!  My brother-in-law tried to get past her for hours, but was stopped by her fierce growl and snarls.  He kept trying to enter the house, but she did not relent until her master said to stop!  What a dog!!!  Just goes to show you that you shouldn't mess around with danger!  Consider for a moment, the prophets in the old testament; how dangerous they were!!!

2 Kings 2:9-25 (WEB)
9) It happened, when they had gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let a double portion of your spirit be on me.”
10) He said, “You have asked a hard thing. If you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.”
11) It happened, as they still went on, and talked, that behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12) Elisha saw it, and he cried, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” He saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and tore them in two pieces.
13) He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan.
14) He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” When he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha went over.
15) When the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho over against him saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
16) They said to him, “See now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. Perhaps the Spirit of Yahweh has taken him up, and put him on some mountain, or into some valley. He said, “You shall not send them.”
17) When they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, “Send them.” They sent therefore fifty men; and they searched for three days, but didn’t find him.
18) They came back to him, while he stayed at Jericho; and he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t go?’”
19) The men of the city said to Elisha, “Behold, please, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the land miscarries.”
20) He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” They brought it to him.
21) He went out to the spring of the waters, and threw salt into it, and said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘I have healed these waters. There shall not be from there any more death or miscarrying.’”
22) So the waters were healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke.
23) He went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you baldhead!”
24) He looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of Yahweh. Two female bears came out of the woods, and mauled forty-two of those youths.
25) He went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

Two famous prophets, yet completely different.  Elijah defeated 400 Baal prophets at Mt. Carmel and yet ran from Jezebel.  Elisha, his servant and successor was a prideful vain man, who used his power flippantly. I thought of Elisha when I saw the dog in the picture because somethings you don't mess with; whether it be a zealous watchdog or a vain prophet... both can get you hurt!!!  I have always liked the end of the book of Ecclesiastes, which says:  "Fear God, and keep his commandments".  Better safe than sorry!!!!!!!

Round and square

Imagine living in a round house...  Curved walls, furniture with curves to match (or square furniture that just not seem to match), and a curved kitchen.  I suppose that there are those who would feel comfortable living in a round world, but for me, it would be very difficult.  Just trying to think of things differently would be a challenge.  Imagine then, how the religious leaders of Jesus' day must have thought of him...

Matthew 12:10-14 (WEB)
10) And behold there was a man with a withered hand. They asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?” that they might accuse him.
11) He said to them, “What man is there among you, who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, won’t he grab on to it, and lift it out?
12) Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day.”
13) Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out; and it was restored whole, just like the other.
14) But the Pharisees went out, and conspired against him, how they might destroy him.

For a Jew, the LAW was the embodiment of religion.  They even had rules that protected their rules.  And here comes Jesus, who goes beyond their rules to see the correctness of actions based on goodness.  It was just too much for them and they reacted with evil.  They were like a square piece of furniture in a round house; they just didn't fit.  The next time someone challenges what you believe, think with your heart as well as your head and do the right thing.

Where's my mansion?

What a house!!!  I can't even imagine being "well off" enough to own such a thing, but obviously someone is doing quite well indeed.  Riches in an of themselves are not bad, its the condition of the heart and its reflection in how life is lived that counts.  Consider this passage from the book of Luke to see what I mean.

Luke 16:19-31 (WEB)
19) “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
20) A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21) and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22) It happened that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
23) In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
24) He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’
25) “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish.
26) Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’
27) “He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house;
28) for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’
29) “But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’
30) “He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31) “He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”

Attitude is everything!!!  Obviously, the rich man did not care for his neighbor or his family or he would have done something about it while he had the opportunity.  At death, its too LATE!!!  So, consider what you do, enjoy your wealth, but consider others and most importantly seek God's will in how you should live your life.  If you listen, learn and practice these things, your riches will be of the heart and you will be blessed by God.

Glorious!

What a beautiful sunset!!!  This unique blend of clouds at different altitudes gives the impression of the whole sky being lit up.  How glorious!!!  I can't recall ever seeing this before.  Yet, how many times have I said that on this blog?  How many different things in this world are unique and worthy of recognition?  The apostle Paul says something similar in his first letter to the Corinthians...

1 Corinthians 15:40-58 (WEB)
40) There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.
41) There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
42) So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.
43) It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
44) It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.
45) So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46) However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.
47) The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.
48) As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49) As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.
50) Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
51) Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54) But when this corruptible will have put on incorruption, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55) “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”
56) The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57) But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58) Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

The leap from considering our glorious surroundings to the glory that awaits us in the next life may seem like a large one at first, but then, all things have a beginning and an end.  Without the hope of something better awaiting us, how depressing this world would be!!!  But thankfully, Jesus has made a way for something better, something more glorious than any sunset could ever be... eternal life!!!  That thought and the expectation of the beauty that awaits in the life beyond makes life more beautiful in the here and now than any sunset, no matter how marvelous.

Remember WINTER ????

Yesterday, a good friend from New Jersey told me it was going to get to 100 there and I was quite surprised, because it was only going to get into the low nineties here in Florida and its still SPRINGTIME!!!  Its dangerous to be either too cold or hot and in fact it can be life threatening.  But, cold can be a good thing, as this verse from the book of Proverbs shows.

Proverbs 25:25 (WEB)
25) Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

When you are thirsty, YOU MUST DRINK!!!  Nothing else will do, you need WATER and that is that!  Ah, but when you finally have quenched this overwhelming need, relief fills every part of your being and no matter how bad you felt, suddenly you feel wonderful!!!  Its like that when you hear from relatives you haven't seen for awhile, but long to see every single day.  Its wonderful and for awhile you are on cloud nine.  Today, I saw a new show narrated by Morgan Freeman called "into the wormhole".  Frankly, it blew me away because of both its cleverness and scientific accuracy.  One of the episodes that was especially interesting to me was a scientific investigation of the existence of the human soul.  From what I saw, it would seem that scientists are very close to actually proving the existence of the soul.  It was welcome news, something like the joy expressed in the verse from Proverbs.  So, it made the whole day seem wonderful and THAT IS SOMETHING WORTH REMEMBERING!!!  You know, I think I feel thirsty all of a sudden!!!