Come What May

As I write this, 2020 is winding down.

Hopefully 2021 will be a better year, but time will tell.

From our current vantage point, there is room for optimism.

The vaccine for COVID-19 is already being distributed.

With it, we may get a handle on the pandemic.

But, from our current vantage point a great deal about the future remains unknown.

Will those who lost their jobs find employment once again?

Will we find healing for the division we currently experience?

Will the virus mutate and perhaps result in additional setbacks?

So many questions.

So few answers.

In pondering the future, my thoughts turn to two men of God from the Old Testament.

The first of these is Abraham.

God asked Abraham to venture into the unknown.

Genesis 12:1 (NET) - Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household to the land that I will show you.

Despite the unknown, Abraham obeyed God and God made him a great nation.

The second of these men is Moses.

God allowed him to see the Promised Land but did not allow him to enter it

Numbers 27:12-13 (NET) - Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range, and see the land I have given to the Israelites. When you have seen it, you will be gathered to your ancestors, as Aaron your brother was gathered to his ancestors.

God gave Moses a glimpse into the future He promised the people,

One thing these men shared was faith.

Each man’s faith in God allowed him to believe there was a future.

The same applies to us.

2021 might be a complete mystery to us.

It might be a time for optimism, new beginnings, healing and recovery.

It might be a time of additional setbacks,

One thing is certain.

God will be there for us.

We must have faith and trust Him.

 

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at https://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, January 8, 2020.

I’ll be back here on Friday, January 15, 2021

 

Finding Joy This Christmas

Christmas is an excellent time for reflection.

In doing so, I find that I have many unpleasant memories of events that involve the Christmas season.

One Christmas season, the person to whom I was closest died.

I had to arrange funeral services.

This was made challenging as no one had cell phones.

Many had left town for Christmas and I had no way of reaching them.

Then there was a young lady I met many years ago.

We got along very well.

As we learned more about each other I discovered her family chose not to celebrate Christmas.

For my family, Christmas was a major event.

We parted ways soon afterward.

Neither of us could ask the other to go against our faiths.

I could list other unpleasant memories associated with the Christmas season.

Due to COVID-19, Christmas 2020 will most probably rank among them for most.

But, unpleasant memories aside, we should still find joy in Christmas itself.

It is the day we set aside to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

This event was foretold by the prophet Isaiah

Isaiah 7:14 (NET) - For this reason the Lord himself will give you a confirming sign. Look, this young woman is about to conceive and will give birth to a son. You, young woman, will name him Immanuel.

The Gospel of Matthew confirmed fulfillment of this prophecy.

Matthew 1:21-23 (NET) - She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will name him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.

Yes, we each probably have unpleasant memories of particular Christmas seasons.

But we should still look for and find joy in Christmas itself.

I like the way Paul stated it in his second letter to Corinth.

2 Corinthians 9:15 (NET) - Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

My prayer is that we each find true joy this Christmas despite any unpleasant circumstances in our lives

Wishing you a Blessed Christmas!

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at https://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, December 25, 2020.

I’ll be back here on Friday, January 1, 2021

 

A Symbol of Hope

 

John 6:30 (NET) - So they said to him, "Then what miraculous sign will you perform, so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?

Throughout His earthly ministry, people asked Jesus for miraculous signs.

Truthfully speaking, these requests were more like demands.

According to their reasoning, this would cause them to believe.

With all that is going on in the world today, perhaps we desire the miraculous even more.

We would like Jesus to end the pandemic.

We would like for Him to heal all division.

Some might even ask Him to restore the economy.

The list goes on.

But faith neither expects nor demand a miraculous sign or wonder.

Faith simply believes.

That is why I enjoy the season of Advent so much.

We surround ourselves with symbols of the season.

One of my personal favorites is the Moravian star.

It began in Moravian boarding schools in the nineteenth century 

Originally designed as a lesson in geometry, it became so much more.

Carried around the world by missionaries and church workers, it became a symbol.

It is now a symbol of Advent.

It is a symbol of hope.

The hope we have as we approach the day of celebration.

The celebration of the birth of Jesus two thousand years ago.

For in Christ lies real hope.

This, I believe, is what sets Christianity apart from all other religions.

It is not about us reaching up to a distant god.

Christianity is about how the loving God reached down to us.

And he did so in the most surprising of ways.

Christ did not come to us as a general or political ruler.

He did not even come to us as an adult.

Christ came to us as an infant; one born to obedient parents in humble surroundings.

So, do not expect or demand miraculous signs and wonders.

Instead, have faith; have hope!

The reminders are all around us.

 

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at https://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, December 11, 2020.

I’ll be back here on Friday, December 18, 2020