Goodbye... for the Moment

Change occurs in everyone’s life and my life is no exception. Recently, God opened new doors and new avenues of service for me for which I am grateful. Very recently, I could see His hand at work as a new door opened. Unfortunately, there is currently not enough time for me to do all the things I would like to do. After prayerful consideration, I am taking a short leave from both this site and my own. I feel that if I cannot give these my best effort, then I would be shortchanging both myself and anyone who reads them. I do plan to return as I am certainly not the same person I was when I started down this path almost 13 years ago. I also realize that many people promise such things but fail to follow through on them. But I strongly believe that God led me to explore this new path more fully. With His continued help, I will be able to bear fruit in the way He has prepared for me. And, trusting in His guidance, I will know when it is time for me to resume this ministry again which I hope will be soon.

Proverbs 16:9 (GNT) - You may make your plans, but God directs your actions.

Until we meet here again.

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Love Must Prevail

The Lord instructed Jeremiah to address the king of Judah, his ministers, and the people.

Jeremiah spoke with integrity.

Jeremiah 22:3 (GNT) - “I, the Lord, command you to do what is just and right. Protect the person who is being cheated from the one who is cheating him. Do not mistreat or oppress aliens, orphans, or widows; and do not kill innocent people in this holy place.

To the modern ear, these commands sound like common sense.

But, as Jeremiah made clear, there was wickedness in their hearts.

As time moved on, wickedness remained in the world.

Paul addressed this in his letter to the Romans.

Paul stressed the importance of sincere love.

He instructed his readers to retain what is good.

He also reminded them to hate what is evil.

Romans 12:9 (GNT) Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good.

Returning to our modern era, we realize that circumstances have not changed all that much.

Evil still exists,

People continue to be cheated.

Oppression is still around.

The words of Jeremiah and Paul continue to call out to us.

The evils of the world can be overcome.

And the way to overcome them is through love.

With God’s help we can learn to sincerely love and serve our neighbor.

We can reach out to those whom society has deemed unworthy.

We must hate what is evil and not merely dislike it.

We must cling to what is good.

And we must follow the example of Jesus.

John 14:21 (GNT) - “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. My Father will love those who love me; I too will love them and reveal myself to them.”

 

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at https://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, November 11, 2022.

I will be back here on Friday, November 18, 2022