Viva God!

There is a restaurant in my neighborhood that serves exceptionally good Mexican food.

I also like going there because of its really unique atmosphere.

There are several murals painted on the walls.

There are also some interesting pictures as well.

One of the first things you will notice when you sit down is that one of the murals, and many of the pictures, are of one man in particular,

That man is General Emiliano Zapata.

Zapata was a key figure in the Mexican Revolution which took place in the early 1900’s.

Although he died a violent death in 1919, he still maintains a rather heroic status.

The mural of Zapata in this restaurant also has a phrase that has become synonymous with the General.

The English translation reads, "It's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees."

Every time I go there and read these words, I am forced to consider two things,

First, Zapata used this phrase to inspire those around him in the Mexican Revolution.

Second, as a Christian, I find myself involved in a different kind of revolution.

Ephesians 6:12 (NET) - For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

As this is a different kind of struggle, it is clear that a different strategy is required.

This is the kind of struggle in which it is to our great advantage to fight on our knees.

Dr. Charles Stanley said it best when he said, "Fight your battles on your knees, and you will win every time."

Sound advice.

Scripture bears this out.

Remember, we do not fight our battles on own.

Just before Moses parted the Red Sea, he reminded the people of this.

Exodus 14:14 (NET) - The LORD will fight for you, and you can be still.

David, in his epic encounter with Goliath, also had the right mind set,

1 Samuel 17:45 (NET) - But David replied to the Philistine, "You are coming against me with sword and spear and javelin. But I am coming against you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel’s armies, whom you have defiled!

A young David armed with a simple shepherd’s sling and with God on his side emerged victorious.

The prophet Isaiah offers us more proof.

Isaiah 45:23-25 (NET) - I solemnly make this oath - what I say is true and reliable: ‘Surely every knee will bow to Me, every tongue will solemnly affirm; they will say about Me, "Yes, the LORD is a powerful deliverer."’ All who are angry at Him will cower before Him. All the descendants of Israel will be vindicated by the LORD and will boast in Him.

When you have God as your general and the battle is upon you, it does not take long to figure  out that being on your knees is an excellent place to be.


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com

Why Me, Lord?

To slightly paraphrase the old hit song by Kris Kristofferson:

Why me, Lord? What have I ever done to deserve even one of the [blessings] I've known?

Every day, I am astonished at all the blessings the Lord has bestowed on me: wise and loving parents; a sweet, patient wife who raised with me three fine children; reasonably good health; a stable, satisfying job; living in a free country . . . the list goes on and on. Of course, the greatest gift of all is God's infinite love in sending His Son into this world to live, teach, suffer, and die in ransom for my sins--the just for the unjust--so that I may live eternally in the company of Him and my loved ones. I don't think anyone has ever been more richly blessed than I.

I was reminded of that recently when my wife and I had the opportunity to travel across the country to spend a few weeks during the Christmas season helping our daughter and son-in-law care for their newborn twin children--their first, and our second and third grandchildren. These two came after years of trying, crying, and prayer by their parents, and were the most wonderful blessing (and Christmas presents) God could have given them. Nothing has ever touched and engaged me more than holding those precious new babies in my arms, gazing into their bright, curious eyes, and even feeding and diapering them--whatever the hour! Nothing has delighted me more than my wife's beaming face as she embraced these little miracles, thanking the Lord for answering our children's prayers.

I was struck by how a loving and giving family like this is an echo of our Heavenly Father's relationship with us--how helpless and dependent on Him we are, how utterly selfless and infinitely generous He is toward us, even when we go astray. He would, and did, give his very life for us, just as our children would for theirs.

I feel so unworthy of His boundless grace. Of course, we can never be fully "deserving" of all God's blessings. If that were possible, we would be "earning" them through works in contravention of the teaching that salvation, like other blessings, comes by grace through faith--lest we should boast (Ephesians 2:8,9). "A faithful man shall abound with blessings" (Proverbs 28:20), and surely a steady faith in God and obedience to His commandments will bring those spiritual and familial blessings that the commandments were intended to secure to us, if not all the worldly benefits men desire.  I know that I am not always faithful to my heavenly calling, and I am too often disobedient. Yet God blesses me still, and remembering this keeps me in humble awe and deepest gratitude. If I never fully "deserve" His gifts, I can at least strive to live worthily of them.

Tom Fleming
Songs of Praises

Be Reminded….

Large scale farming has not always been as we know it today. Nowadays we call it mechanized agriculture or commercial farming and so on but several hundred years ago it definitely was not like this and the aforementioned names never existed. Now it is driven machines, then it was oxen (yoke). Was it effective? Yes, in its own small way but never in the magnitude that we have today…



The above exposition bear some semblance to the work of God in our lives. Over four (4) thousand years ago He sent the commandments and various codes for the Israelites to obey that they should be separate from everybody around them and so they can enter His rest, but now, He made a new way of salvation through faith.



Like farming that was initially oxen-driven but now machine-driven, so, it is with God's way with us. Then it was obedience, now it is faith… Then it was fulfilment of all the codes but now it is YIELDING to the work of His spirit in us. Then, obedience to the law could not help us (because of our nature) but now "He works in us to will and to do His good pleasure"



God's intention has never changed. His earnest desire is to have us in eternity with Him. The process may change, but the expected result is still the same.



He loves us and cannot wait to have us home with Him. Does He loves us more now than before? NO! He Loves us either we are saved or  not.... all He desire is to Have us with Him eternally...

Joh 3:16 God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. (CEV)





Shallom.

My Funeral for Sam

This is not my scheduled week to post here, but my friend Sam passed away last week.

Sam was not given a funeral, so the following is my feeble attempt at providing him with one...

We are gathered here today to give glory to God and to pay our final respects to Sam.

No obituary was printed for Sam, so I had to draw on things I have learned from our friendship of over twenty years.

Sam held several jobs in his lifetime but he was an artist at heart.

To the best of my knowledge, he never made any serious money with his paintings, but perhaps that is just as well.

If Sam had managed to make money this way, he would have likely concluded that his art had become too commercial and probably would have abandoned it for another art form.

I showed someone a portrait Sam had painted of Jesus and they remarked that it was a "little scruffy looking."

Artistically speaking, that made some sense to me.

You see, every culture tends to depict Jesus in art in terms of their own culture.

In African art, Jesus is often depicted as African.

In Asian art, He is often depicted as Asian.

I have a portrait of Jesus that was painted by a European artist that depicts Him with flowing blonde hair and blue eyes.

In this portrait Jesus looks quite European.

I think Sam was simply transferring some of his own "scruffiness" into the painting.

Honestly, I don’t think Jesus took any offense.

Sam enjoyed history.

His favorite TV program was The Antiques Roadshow and he was also extremely interested in Nikola Tesla.

Sam read everything about Tesla that he could get his hands on.

Sam was always researching different things and would talk to me about everything from canyons in Mexico to the Antikythera mechanism found in an Aegean shipwreck.

Sam kept a notepad in his pocket.

If something came up in conversation that interested him, he would jot it down and research it later.

Sam attended several churches in his lifetime including the one I attend.

I think his curiosity fueled his desire to experience firsthand how different denominations choose to worship God.

Sam and I had many, many conversations over coffee and we disagreed about a great many things.

It is said that there are two things you should never discuss, namely, religion and politics.

Yet we discussed both.

And, since we were on opposite ends of the political spectrum, we found a great many things to disagree about.

I can honestly say that we never once allowed a disagreement of any magnitude to get in the way of a perfectly good friendship.

Sam understood my fondness for music.

It was Sam that introduced me to the music of an Australian country singer by the name of Slim Dusty.

To this day, I never tire of listening to Slim singing ‘Waltzing Matilda‘.

I will always be grateful to Sam for that.

Similarly, I will always be grateful to God for the friendship He gave me with Sam.

Sadly, at the end, I honestly do not believe that Sam had many friends and even fewer good friends.

More than a few severed ties with him altogether for one reason or another along the way.

Sam was not perfect.

Then again, neither are we.

If you seriously think about it, a lifetime of rejections must have caused Sam to feel a great deal of personal pain.

I can only imagine what that amount of rejection must have felt like.

Jesus did not have to imagine anything of the sort.

He knew firsthand what it was like to have people turn on Him.

One day, Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the victorious cry of an ecstatic crowd.

Matthew 21:9 (NET) - The crowds that went ahead of Him and those following kept shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna In the Highest!"

A short time later, an angry mob turned on Jesus.

Matthew 27:22-23 (NET) - Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Christ?" They all said, "Crucify Him!" He asked . "Why? What wrong has He done?" But they shouted more insistently, "Crucify Him!"

I have often wondered how many people were part of both the jubilant crowd one day and the angry mob the next.

Jesus knew exactly how it felt to have one of His own turn against Him.

Matthew 26:48 (NET) - Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I kiss is the man. Arrest Him!"

And it happened just that way!

Jesus also knew personally what it felt like to have friends abandon Him.

Jesus told Peter there would come a time when he would deny Him.

Matthew 26:34 (NET) - Jesus said to him, "I tell you the truth, on this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times."

Again, it happened just that way!

Yes Sam, in that regard, you were indeed in excellent company.

You see, your Savior knew just how you felt.

Now, that same Savior welcomes you home.

Lord, my prayer today is that You help us recognize that there are many Sam’s in the world.

Encourage us to accept them just as they are.

After all, that is just the way that You accept us.

For those of you that attended this "service" and stayed until the end, I offer my sincerest gratitude.

Sam was created in God’s image.

Sam mattered to God.

Sam mattered to me.

Funerals are for the living, bur everyone has a story.

In the end, doesn’t everyone deserve to have at least some of that story told?

It should not matter how many or how few decide to attend.

If it were possible for us to combine our voices in a closing hymn right now, I would ask that we sing "Just as I Am" before we part company.

One final and very personal note,,,

One of the last things Sam ever said to me was, "I can’t wait until you become a preacher."

Well Sam, this is about as close as I can get.

You deserved better.

This was the best I could provide.

Rest in peace, my friend.

Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com

Back to the Basics

I recently attended a seminar held at my church which I enjoyed very much.

One of the things the speaker stressed in this seminar were the concepts of "essentials" and "non-essentials".

Since attending that seminar I have read numerous devotionals, prayers and other types of posts written by my friends.

A good many of these dealt with the different types of struggles we encounter.

Often. we as individual believers struggle.

There are times when entire church congregations struggle.

There are even times when it seems that the entire body of believers who call themselves Christians struggle.

I asked myself the question. "When we find ourselves struggling,  what would be a good course of action to take?"

It occurred to me, that when coaches see their teams struggling, one of the most successful remedies they employ is having their athletes focus on the fundamentals.

That means going back to the basics.

More often than not, this strategy proves to be quite effective.

Why not take the same approach when we find ourselves struggling as Christians?

That means focusing on, the "essentials".

I then reflected on the essentials, which, according to the speaker are threefold.

First and foremost, it means focusing on God and how he reaches down to us.

God is perfect.

God is perfectly righteous and perfectly Holy.

We are not.

Yet God reaches down to us with His grace.

He does so through Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:24 (NET) - But hey are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

He reaches to us with the Holy Spirit.

John 14:26 (NET) - But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to  you.

On the other end of the spectrum, we find another component of the "essentials", namely ourselves and how we choose to respond to God.

How should we respond to God as He reaches down to us?

We should respond with the gifts he has given to us.

These gifts consist of faith, love and hope.

We must have faith in God, understand that our hope lies with Him and love Him with all of our being.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NET) - And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was , His answer was in two parts.

Please note the first part.

Matthew 22:37-38 (NET) - Jesus said to him, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.

So, we have God reaching down to us.

We in turn give back to God our love, our faith and our hope.

How is this even possible?

It is only possible because of the other key component of the "essentials".

The bridge provided by God for us, namely, Jesus Christ.

John 3:16-17  (NET) - For this is the way God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.

Struggle is inevitable.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is go back to the fundamentals.

I know what some of your are asking right now.

Does that mean that other things are not important?

Of course not.

It must be understood that the word "non-essential" does not mean "unimportant".

There are many important things to Christians and the Christian way of life.

The reading of scripture is an excellent example.

Everything else aside, the relationship we as human beings (the created) have with God (the Creator) through Jesus Christ (the redeemer) is central to what it means to be a Christian.

Making certain that this relationship is what it should be can go a long way in helping us resolve our struggles.


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com

THE FIRST TWO COMPLAINTS

Numbers Chapter 11 

The people of Israel had already left the Sinai, and chapters 11 and 12 reported events accruing in his march to Kibroth hattaavah. When problems arose, the people complained. Herein sinned, and his experience brings us important lessons.

Whenever the people complained, the Glory of the Lord appeared. He disliked their complaints. We can be sure that He is displeased with too many believers living criticizing and complaining today. They are always finding faults, and nothing satisfies them.

Whether the fire of the LORD consumed only some stuff that was around the camp, and also hit people. Anyway, it was a warning, and to have become extinct when Moses prayed for the people, it was clear that it was of divine origin. Taberah means burnt.

The rabble that was among them were crossbred with Israel Egyptians. They could not join one of the tribes because they knew they belonged, had not quite sure if they were doing well to follow along with the people, being the product of mixed marriages. Having Egyptian blood, they felt homesick that land.

Our churches are full of them: they want to walk with believers, go to church and have a high standard of moral life. During the week, walk and live like the world. Do not know right where they belong, not sure if they have been born again. Most often, these are originating rebellion and discontent within the churches. They like to have a feast in the church, but do not come to Bible studies. They do not feel well or at church or in the world.

The discontent of the populace has contaminated the Israelites and their attention is diverted from what they had received (freedom, nationality, the law, the priesthood, and a land that was waiting at the end of the trip) and started to focus their attention on other things like that have: a varied menu with fish and vegetables nonexistent in the desert. It was the lust of the flesh, spreading like a disease, making them cry like children in front of their tents. They forgot the yoke that had loaded in Egypt in exchange for this food.

Before condemning the so should meditate on what occupies our attention most of the time: we are grateful for what God has given us, and the wonderful things that He has prepared in heaven, and we are always thinking about we're losing, and the things of this world that would like to have?

Every morning (except on Saturdays) the people of Israel opened their tents and witnessed a miracle: the bread that God gave them. The Holy Spirit describes the manna again for us in this passage. It was a wonderful food, containing everything they needed for their livelihoods, and contributing to their health as well. For example, we read through your entire journey through the desert, their feet swelled not (Deuteronomy 8:4). But now, aiming to beef about everything despised the most excellent and versatile manna.

Manna is a picture of the Lord Jesus, and the Word of God that reveals to us. Many in our churches, unfortunately also get tired of learning from Christ and have no great desire to study His Word:
indisposed it already! They try to eat something else, ignoring what God gave them.

The anger of the LORD was kindled greatly, and Moses found himself again in the position of intermediary. His patience was, apparently coming to an end. He complained to God that he would rather be dead than continue to bear alone that people unhappy. It's a feeling that pass by many pastors in churches, leading some to give up his ministry.

Moses erred in claiming so the LORD, because the load was not his: the Lord is that he was not just carrying people but he also. Besides, the Lord had given the Holy Spirit to strengthen you. We also have this privilege, and we must remember that the work of the Lord is His, and not assume that we must take the load on our shoulders.

The Lord, however, patiently selected seventy men from the elders, who were superintendents of the people, and put them on the Spirit that was upon Moses, there was no more power than before, but more equipment! Moses complained of the weight of the burden of responsibility that led but God, distributing the burden, showed that the power of Moses had always been enough in proportion to the weight of that burden.

This principle of having continued seventy leaders through history to the Sanhedrin in the time of Christ, who sentenced him to death. The Old Testament was also translated into Greek, reportedly, two centuries before Christ, in Alexandria, a group of seventy, so calling this version of Setuaginta. The word bishop means overseer and elder is equivalent to elder. Christian churches should be led by a group of superintendents (not an individual), also called elders.

The LORD also told Moses to tell the people to sanctify (dedicate) for the next day, because they send enough meat for a whole month, to eat ad nausea  This is because the LORD had rejected and regretted having left Egypt. They "gave themselves up to lust, in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. Granted them their request, but sent leanness into their soul" (Psalm 106:14,15).

We make our prayer with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6), because we know that He will answer us, but we must be satisfied even when the answer is no, what often happens because we ask can not be good for us. If we complain, He can give us what we want, but our soul will languish because we hurt.

Having witnessed and even participated in so many miracles, it seems surprising that Moses showed incredulity when told that the Lord would give them much meat. We also sometimes forget that He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). It's easy to trust God when we see His mighty works (the Israelites had seen many), but after a while, the routine of life, His power does not seem so great. Our vision of him is changing, not Him

Two of the elders had not attended the meeting - perhaps with good reason - but by no means let the Lord to give them also the Spirit. Moses was not jealous of them, on the contrary, said he would like all the people were prophets, that the Lord of His Spirit to all! God can work through whom He will: take care lest we obstacle to his work because of jealousy!

The LORD gave them all the meat they wanted, and much more. It came in the form of quail, flying about 90 cm tall, easily caught in a cloud of more than twenty-five miles in length and width, which covered the camp for two days and one night. What took less, managed 3.5 meters cubic of birds. Hunting, after salt, was extended in the sun to dry (did not freezer!) Around the camp.

But when they began to eat, felt ill and many died, for the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people. The evil was not much to miss a meal varied, but his desire to set her above all else, to the point of despising what God was giving them. God knows our desires, and we are judged by Him, even now. So the Word of God tells us that we should judge ourselves, lest we be judged - but when judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, not to be condemned with the world (1 Corinthians 11:31-32).

The dead were buried, and the place was renamed Kibroth hattaavah (Graves of Desire).

When God Calls

Sesquicentennial.

It’s a fancy word that means 150th anniversary.

I begin this way because about three years ago I felt God leading me to write and share a weekly devotional and this makes devotional number 150.

What’s so remarkable about that?

Not much unless  you consider the fact that I never considered writing on my own.

In fact, by profession, I deal far more with numbers than words.

I followed His lead and I am glad that I did because some exciting and completely unexpected things happened as a result of it.

When I first began  writing, it was a challenge for me.

I knew this was going to take me out of my comfort zone.

I also knew that if it made a difference in only one life, all the effort will have been completely worth it.

Mark 16:15 (NET) - He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."

Eventually I learned that this happened when I was contacted by someone who was reading them.

We began communicating and I will never forget the question he posed to me.

"Do you think there is hope for me?"

I replied that there was indeed hope for all of us because of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:3 (NET) - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,..."

That individual, with God’s help, turned his life around in an amazing way and we still stay in touch.

Of course the credit and the glory both belong to God.

I am delighted simply to be the instrument that He used.

As a result of this, I came to another conclusion.

Since I was able to help this one individual, perhaps I will be able to help others along the way,

Another benefit I have personally received as a result of following His lead are the connections I have made with other Christians along the way.

Connections with the other contributors to this blog site are a great example.

Although I have never met them (and others like them) face to face,  I feel as if I know them because of their willingness to both encourage and edify.

That is what Christians are supposed to do for each other.

I always look forward to seeing what God has written upon their hearts to share with others.

I have also made connections with others.

Therein lies opportunity.

Most surprisingly, I have come to know myself better as well.

I have also had to make some choices and some changes along the way.

The biggest among these is how I choose to make use of what I consider a very precious commodity.

Time.

When people think about stewardship, thoughts automatically turn to money.

Also important is how we choose to invest our time.

We all have a finite amount of time and not one of us knows how much of it we have.

How we choose to invest that time is of tremendous importance.

So, when you feel His leading, I strongly urge you to follow it.

God indeed works in strange and mysterious ways.

If someone had told me a decade ago what my life would be like today, I simply would not have believed them.

I once heard someone say that God does not always call the equipped, but he does equip those He calls.

There is a tremendous amount of truth in that.

When God calls, follow the example of Samuel.

1 Samuel 3:10  (NET) - Then the LORD came and stood nearby, calling as He previously had done, "Samuel! Samuel!" Samuel replied, "Speak, for Your servant is listening!"


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com