Before It's Too Late

Luke 12:19-20 (NET) - And I will say to myself, You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!" But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your soul will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"

I am fan of motor sports.

The off season was finally over and the first trio of races to start the new season were finally here.

I was watching Saturday’s Nationwide race from Daytona.

As the laps ticked away you could almost sense that an exciting finish drew closer with each passing lap.

Then on the final lap, the unimaginable happened.

Several cars were caught up in a violent collision that sent one of the cars air born in the direction of spectators.

Fortunately, there is a catch fence that exists between spectators and the track that is designed to do one thing.

Keep a car traveling near 200 MPH confined to the track.

It did, but debris including shredded metal as well as one wheel assembly was hurtled into the crowd.

None of the drivers sustained any injuries but in the end, 28 spectators were injured.

Two of them sustained critical injuries.

Emergency crews went to work immediately and began treating those injured.

In total, fourteen of the injured were transported to nearby hospitals for additional treatment.

Drivers were visibly shaken, their concern for the fans was foremost on their minds.

They knew that their jobs have a certain amount of risk which they willingly accept.

But somehow it seemed different for spectators.

Almost immediately, news channels were airing the story of the tragedy.

All for the sake of ratings.

I offered a prayer for the lives impacted by this tragic turn of events.

Later, as I reflected on this, I remembered a road sign I passed beneath on the highway earlier in the week.

The sign reminded drivers to monitor their speed and to reinforce this, a second reminder was posted.

That reminder was that 211 drivers had lost their lives on roads in my state so far this year.

Though we had not gone through two months of the year, 211 lives had already been claimed.

Just as none of the 28 spectators expected to be injured Saturday at the racetrack, so none of the 211 drivers and passengers expected their last day on the road to be their last day.

This served to remind me just how precious and how fragile human life is,

What can you do knowing that each day could potentially be your last?

There are in fact several things you can do.

Live life to its fullest.

Love as many people you can, especially those that may not love you in return.

Tell your family you love them at every opportunity.

Then there is the single most important thing you can do.

Give your life over to Jesus.

Statistics will never be able to tell us how many of those 211 fatalities had found Jesus in time.

I suspect the best answer we can come up with is too few.

If you haven’t given your life over to Jesus yet, why not do so now.

Life may be full of uncertainty, but you can always count on Jesus.


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

Preparing for Devotion

I'm often distressed at the disconnect between what God expects of me and what I deliver on an average day. "[W]hat doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?"  (Deuteronomy 10:12-13)  Christ Himself expanded on this expectation:  "[T]hou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."  (Mark 12:30-31)

That seems to be asking a lot, doesn't it?  With the multitude of our daily obligations to family and employers, with the myriad temptations and distractions today's world puts in our way, isn't an unswerving, all-consuming devotion to God pretty much unattainable for most people?  Wouldn't one have to withdraw to a mountain cave, or to a cell in a monastery, and spend the rest of one's life in constant prayer, meditation, and scripture study?

Some have felt called to such a life over the centuries, and through their writings and teachings have had an influence for good on the many who could not follow the ascetic path. But I don't think God requires such a life of most people. While we're not to be conformed to or "of" the world, we remain in it (Romans 12:2; John 15:19; John 17:13-16). Believers are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16). There may be rare exceptions, but as a rule God wouldn't ask of us something we couldn't attain without abandoning our families and the work we need to do to support them, or disappearing from amongst our friends and neighbors to search for Him alone.

A life of devotion to God and fellow man can be, and is, lived every day by otherwise ordinary people, everywhere. It results from a combination of what we do and what we avoid.

One vital element is maintaining a constant, 24/7 connection with the Lord in prayer--both the kneel-down variety, when that can be done, but also the conversation with Him that you carry on in your head and heart while going about your daily business. Another element is daily reading in God's word: it needn't take hours or follow a rigorous study plan, but may consist of only a few verses--you can't hardly find any in the Bible that aren't bursting with inspiration and comfort. In addition, we must constantly and humbly repent of, and strive to avoid, sin: nothing else so thoroughly prevents a healthy, ongoing relationship with our Heavenly Father, nor so clouds our judgment with selfishness and despair. As far as possible rid you life of things (for example, unedifying television, movies, music, or literature; drugs or alcohol; other worldly infatuations)  that may tempt you to sin or distract you from God and others toward an immersion in Self. Finally, do your best to make a habit of thoughtfulness, generosity, and a readiness to help, however when or much it's needed--this will bring you closer to the model of the Good Samaritan.

Following this path keeps one's mind and heart clear, clean, and undistracted; keeps us ready, willing, and able to help others; and keeps us open to the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit. By this means we're able to grow and thrive in faith, and in devotion to God and those around us, just as He commands--one day at a time.

Tom Fleming
Songs of Praises

When God Strikes a Chord

As a believer, the word "coincidence" is not part of my normal vocabulary.

There are times when I notice a common theme running through posts among friends who are believers as well as ministers I follow online.

This happened again just the other day.

One of the thoughts I awoke with centered around the concept of "vision".

Vision in the sense of how we foresee and plan for our spiritual future and that of others.

As I read through various posts, I realized that this concept was running through the hearts and minds of many friends and ministers.

This brought to my mind the words of Helen Keller who said, "It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision."

Those words have always stuck with me, so I posted them online citing her as the source of the quotation.

A short time later, a friend jokingly asked if I had been reading her mind.

Obviously, what she meant was the concept of vision occupied her thoughts as well.

I replied that while I cannot read people’s minds, I do believe that sometimes God strikes a chord that resonates among believers.

This friend agreed and told me her pastor once delivered a message about "sympathetic resonance".

That has been on my mind a great deal since.

I remember studying sympathetic  resonance in physics a long time ago.

It occurs when the vibrations of one object cause another object to vibrate with a harmonic frequency.

You may have noticed this when a passing car’s radio causes your window panes to vibrate.

This can occur spiritually speaking, as it often does, when one believer shares with another who shares with another, and so on.

Many times, however, I honestly believe that God is actively at work placing within us that which we need at the time, collectively speaking.

Perhaps another term for God striking such a resonating a chord among a number of believers simultaneously could be "empathetic resonance."

Allow me to illustrate with an example.

Several Sunday’s ago it was a friends turn to deliver our senior assembly at church.

My friend was running late, so I volunteered to fill in for him.

From the time I awoke thoughts of God’s complete forgiveness and mercy occupied my mind.

As such, I knew what devotional I would share and the scripture I would offer to accompany it.

Just as I was about to lead that assembly, my friend arrived and I turned the proceedings over to him.

I felt that God was at work when the scripture he offered was the exact same scripture I was about to deliver.

That feeling was confirmed when that very same passage of scripture was read during the worship service and the pastor’s message was built upon it.

What was that one passage of scripture?

Psalm 103:12 (NET) - As far as the eastern horizon is from the west, so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us.

Coincidence?

Hardly.

As an analyst, I work with numbers daily.

According to my calculation, if this had been merely a random occurrence, the chances of three individuals choosing the same passage of scripture in this setting were approximately 1 in 30,000,000,000,000.

It makes far more sense to me that God, who knows His children intimately and knows what their greatest need is at the time simply strikes a unifying and resonant chord among them.

Remember, nothing is impossible for God!



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

Love Story

Over the last two days we've observed both Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent and our remembrance of Christ's passion and resurrection, and St. Valentine's Day, when we celebrate romantic love. These events wouldn't seem to have much in common, unless one remembers that Christ's victory over sin and death climax the greatest love story ever known.

Maybe due to the frequency of its telling, many approach the story of Holy Week and Christ's betrayal, suffering, death, and resurrection mostly as a colorful tale involving things done and said by Jesus and those around him over 2000 years ago--the stuff of epic movies. Do we really experience the story personally, and fully appreciate our own role in it?

To do so, we must understand the purpose and the force behind everything that happened that fateful week, and that it was all for us--not just for mankind collectively, but for every person individually. The purpose was our salvation from sin, so that we could share eternal happiness with our Father and Lord. The force was Love--a love vaster than the Universe and older than Time, yet as immediate and personal as you and I this moment; a love that satisfies both absolute justice and infinite mercy. It's a love that extends to all people and to every soul one by one, as if Christ came to this earth, lived and taught, suffered and died on the cross, and rose from the dead specifically to save [your name here] alone (Luke 15:4, 7). It was for YOU and to win YOUR salvation that He did all this--not grudgingly, but willingly, even before you were born or had ever heard of Him, and regardless of anything and everything you would ever do, no matter how deep your ignorance or contempt of Him. It's a love beyond rational comprehension and entirely unconditional, having nothing to do with deserving or worthiness--except His.

Never doubt that God knows and loves you personally. You're as precious to Him as any and every other one of His children. Remember that Christ came to earth to save you, to pay for your sins, no matter what they might be--and would have done so if even you were the only sinner who had ever lived. He loves you so much, that He went through all that He did just so He could have your company in Heaven forever. There's never been a greater miracle. It truly is the Greatest Love Story Ever Told!

Tom Fleming
Songs of Praises