A single way?

As you may have guessed, I enjoy working with computers (most of the time).  I have seen IBM PC, XT, AT, 286, 386, 486, and now I5 systems (I think they now have I7 and higher as well).  Software has changed too; remember starting up your computer and then 5 to 10 minutes later being greeted with nothing but a flashing place marker.  Today, I not only run Windows 7, but am learning Linux Ubuntu as well (and love it). I can only imagine what the next decade (or hopefully, several decades) will bring.  But whatever the future may hold, I am sure I will be learning something new and exciting; but, I have to be willing to learn.  Isn't that what life is all about...learning.  But, its the things you learn that are important and that depends on who you listen to.  Here is someone we all should listen to; and with very good reason.... your life depends upon it...

 

Mark 9:2-7 (WEB)
2) After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and brought them up onto a high mountain privately by themselves, and he was changed into another form in front of them.
3) His clothing became glistening, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.
4) Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Jesus.
5) Peter answered Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
6) For he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid.
7) A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

Religiously, you are who you will obey.  If its your own will, you are a humanist or an atheist or an agnostic.  If its the Pope, you are Catholic and so on.  We all have to decide what our standard is for the hope of eternal life.  Personally, give me Jesus... every time.  Open the Bible, reproduce what you find in the New Testament and have a good day and an even better afterlife.  Each and every day we have a decision to make... will I faithfully follow Jesus or go some other way?  Good question and for me a simple choice.  How about you?

A hole in the sky???

Look, the sky has a hole in it!!!  Maybe its a pathway to heaven; maybe not, but whatever it is, its an uncommon sight to be sure!!!  Why think about heaven?  Well, why not?  There has to be something better than this world.  And the ways things have been going this world just seems to be getting worse and worse.  Ask yourself, how many wars, how many economic downturns, how much political intrigue and corruption can there be?  Sooner or later, western civilization as we know it seems doomed.  There is in fact something better, something awaiting us that will be truly magnificent.  And this is how I know...

WEB: John Chapter 14

[1] "“Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. [2] In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. [3] If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also. [4] Where I go, you know, and you know the way.”"

[5] Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

[6] Jesus said to him, "“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

The way to heaven isn't through some hole in the sky, its through Jesus.  Recently, its become fashionable to bash Christianity, to degrade and attempt to restrict the influence of Jesus of Nazareth.  Stupidity, because why would someone want to malign someone who has done something wonderful for you?  Jesus has shown us the way to paradise and whoever is foolish enough to ignore it will really be missing out on something very special.  But, people will always do things that aren't good for them and I sincerely hope that you do not fall into that category.  Until the time comes for my entry into heaven, I will keep looking up at the sky and wonder what is really beyond that hole, but whatever it is I know it will be HOLY, because Jesus is there and that is where I want to be.  How about you???

Sittin' on top of the world

Its funny how the mind works because as I looked at this picture, all I could think about was the old Al Jolson song "sitting on top of the world".  OK, I know that dates me, but one of the best gifts my grandmother gave me was a collection of his records.  I remember how I used to play them on an old Victrola wind up record player.  Somehow, she always seemed nearby when I played them.  Questions:  What makes you happy; what makes you feel like the bear in the picture?  As usual, I am drawn to the following verses...

WEB: Matthew Chapter 5

[1] Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him. [2] He opened his mouth and taught them, saying,

[3] "“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

[4] Blessed are those who mourn,

for they shall be comforted.

[5] Blessed are the gentle,

for they shall inherit the earth.

[6] Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,

for they shall be filled.

[7] Blessed are the merciful,

for they shall obtain mercy.

[8] Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they shall see God.

[9] Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they shall be called children of God.

[10] Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake,

for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

[11] “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. [12] Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Perhaps this is not the first thing you think of, but it works for me!!!  Maybe understanding the word blessed will help.  I like the this was of translating it: OH, the blessed state of the man (with God)... that...  Face it, sometimes your best friends will let you down, your spouse will yell at you, your family will laugh at you and your kids will do something that will absolutely drive you up the wall.  God doesn't do that; HE is always there, never, ever acts unpredictably and always loves you.  HE just keeps on loving you, even when you do wrong and always forgives... always.  There really is nothing in this world you can depend on BUT God and if that doesn't make you happy, nothing will!!! 

Impossible?

Using money as toilet paper; could it ever really happen?  Probably not, but who knows?  There have been so many unexpected things over the years that anything is possible.  Just think, in a little over a month, it will be a decade since we saw airplanes destroy the World Trade Center in New York City!!!  Sometimes the unthinkable does happen; here is one such instance from the Old Testament...

WEB: II Kings Chapter 6

[24] It happened after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. [25] There was a great famine in Samaria. Behold, they besieged it, until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. [26] As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”

[27] He said, “If Yahweh doesn’t help you, from where could I help you? From of the threshing floor, or from the winepress?” [28] The king said to her, “What ails you?”

She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ [29] So we boiled my son, and ate him: and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him;’ and she has hidden her son.”

[30] It happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes (now he was passing by on the wall); and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth underneath on his flesh. [31] Then he said, “God do so to me, and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stay on him this day.”

[32] But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Then the king sent a man from before him; but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, “Do you see how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door shut against him. Isn’t the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”

[33] While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, “Behold, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”

World English Bible: II Kings Chapter 7

[1] Elisha said, “Hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says Yahweh, ‘Tomorrow about this time a measure of fine flour will be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.’”

[2] Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, “Behold, if Yahweh made windows in heaven, could this thing be?”

He said, “Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it.”

[3] Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate. They said one to another, “Why do we sit here until we die? [4] If we say, ‘We will enter into the city,’ then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. If we sit still here, we also die. Now therefore come, and let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they save us alive, we will live; and if they kill us, we will only die.”

[5] They rose up in the twilight, to go to the camp of the Syrians. When they had come to the outermost part of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no man there. [6] For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great army: and they said one to another, Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come on us. [7] Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. [8] When these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drink, and carried there silver, and gold, and clothing, and went and hid it. Then they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried there also, and went and hid it. [9] Then they said one to another, “We aren’t doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we keep silent. If we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come, let us go and tell the king’s household.”

[10] So they came and called to the porter of the city; and they told them, saying, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but the horses tied, and the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.”

[11] He called the porters; and they told it to the king’s household within. [12] The king arose in the night, and said to his servants, “I will now show you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and get into the city.’”



[14] They took therefore two chariots with horses; and the king sent after the army of the Syrians, saying, “Go and see.”

[15] They went after them to the Jordan; and behold, all the way was full of garments and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in their haste. The messengers returned, and told the king. [16] The people went out, and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of Yahweh. [17] The king appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to be in charge of the gate: and the people trod on him in the gate, and he died as the man of God had said, who spoke when the king came down to him. [18] It happened, as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, “Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria;” [19] and that captain answered the man of God, and said, “Now, behold, if Yahweh should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be?” and he said, “Behold, you shall see it with your eyes, but shall not eat of it.” [20] It happened like that to him; for the people trod on him in the gate, and he died.

Things happen! Samaria was besieged by Syria and there was a great famine.  But Elijah said that tomorrow there would be an abundance of food.  HUH? Things worked out just as he said to the surprise of everyone; great!!  So, I guess the world is really full of surprises after all.  America may encounter another period of inflation like during the Carter presidency, but God is in control and if we turn to him, everything will turn out fine!!!

Trimuph!!!

Napoleon's arch of Triumph.  Magnificent!!!  But, it has taken on new meaning since his defeat at Waterloo.  It is a glory regulated to the past; something gone without real concrete meaning for those of us who are alive today.  Monuments of stone are like that, set in stone, unable to change, relics at the moment of their creation.  Genuine triumph is that which continues to endure through life. I like what the apostle Paul has to say about this in the book of Corinthians.

WEB: II Corinthians Chapter 2

[14] Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and reveals through us the sweet aroma of his knowledge in every place. [15] For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God, in those who are saved, and in those who perish; [16] to the one a stench from death to death; to the other a sweet aroma from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

WEB: II Corinthians Chapter 3

[1] Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as do some, letters of commendation to you or from you? [2] You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; [3] being revealed that you are a letter of Christ, served by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in tablets that are hearts of flesh. [4] Such confidence we have through Christ toward God; [5] not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; [6] who also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. [7] But if the service of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which was passing away: [8] won’t service of the Spirit be with much more glory? [9] For if the service of condemnation has glory, the service of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. [10] For most certainly that which has been made glorious has not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasses. [11] For if that which passes away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

Triumph, real triumph is that which goes beyond the fading glory of a conqueror.  It is the celebration of life that is found in communion with God; the change that occurs when mere man learns what life is all about from the creator of ALL things.  Stones wear out, men die, but the heart united with its creator lives forever.  Now, THAT is triumph!!!

Looking deeper

What is it?  Very good question!!!  To my thinking, it is an artists' representation of the Higgs-boson, or God particle.  You know, the mysterious missing particle deep within everything that gives it substance.  The more scientists know about the nature of the universe, the more they ultimately seek for God.  Its nice to know exactly HOW THINGS WORK, but it should not be a one dimensional search.  Consider the following verse from the book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 29:13 (WEB)
13) You shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.

Its OK to intelligently understand the things around us; to know the WHY of things.  But, there is more to life than JUST KNOWLEDGE.  Consider; what would life in this world be like without love, compassion or for that matter, feelings of any kind?  If you memorize the entire Bible and it does not affect you emotionally, what is the point... nothing will change.  God wants us to be as smart as we can be, but HE also wants us to know him; to experience the wonder of a life witch has fellowship with HIM.  That is the true substance of things... you can call it anything you want.

Just another day full of surprises

Today, my grandson asked me what animal produced its own alcohol.  I didn't know and when he told me, I was a bit surprised.  Its amazing how much there is to learn in this world; how much there is to marvel at.  Later, I took a few minutes and thought about how wonderful it was to be a Christian; that God would choose to have anything at all to do with someone like myself is truly amazing.  Consider the following passage from the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians 3:14-21 (WEB)
14) For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15) from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
16) that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man;
17) that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18) may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19) and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20) Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
21) to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

God cares, directs and empowers humans.  I wonder why he chose us instead of simply making a better angel?  What is so special about us anyway?  I have known thousands upon thousands of people, most of them had obvious faults, but a few of them were truly spiritual people.  Even the top five people I have had the blessing to know and call friend still had things about them that were not flattering.  How can God care so much for those who are so flawed?  I haven't a clue, but I believe that HE does and that's all that is really necessary.  Sometimes you just need to accept things, like Hippos giving pink milk or that elephants make their own alcohol.  Isn't life wonderful!!!