Reflecting His Light

It’s that time of year when it gets dark earlier.

Sometimes the sun is just setting behind me as I drive home.

At these times the setting sun can cause buildings to have a soft glow.

At the same time the sky behind them can be quite dark.

The contrast between the two is often quite remarkable.

This never lasts more than a few minutes at best.

Just moments later, the sun dips completely behind the horizon and darkness begins to reign again.

My thoughts turn to the light of God we are supposed to reflect to a darkened world.

Turning on the news or scanning the headlines reminds us of how much darkness there is.

This darkness is not impacted by the time of day,

It is always there.

That is why it is imperative that we reflect the light the Lord shines on us.

Matthew 5:16 (NET) - In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.

Sharing God’s light with others may not be as difficult as we think.

We start by thinking of others rather than ourselves.

We may not always find this easy.

Each of us encounters difficult people.

Yet the people we find most difficult to love are the ones who need love the most.

Scripture reminds us that we are to love them.

Luke 6:31 (NET) - Treat others in the same way that you would want them to treat you.

Some refer to this as the Golden Rule.

Whether we call it that or not makes no difference,

Our actions speak louder than our words.

Paul said this…

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

Now faith is a wonderful thing.

Who among us doesn’t like hope?

But love is the greatest of these.

Love is the key.

Through it, we reflect God’s light to others.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at https://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, October 11, 2019.

I’ll be back here on Friday, October 18, 2019

Outer Space and Outer Appearance

It is hard for me to believe we are nearing the fiftieth anniversary of the first manned moon landing.

I was a child while the race for space was taking place.

In those days before the Internet, products and services used the moon landing in their promotions.

I eagerly anticipated the moon landing and took in as much coverage as I could.

Perhaps that explains my continued fondness for science fiction especially works from the 1950’s and 1960’s.

It was great anticipating the progress we might have made.

That said, many works from that genre and era depicted evil aliens as ugly or disfigured.

Heroes on the other hand were depicted as either beautiful or handsome.

The same generally holds true today.

We still tend to associate beauty with goodness.

People have been making this assumption for centuries.

It even happened in Biblical times.

Take the time Samuel anointed David king.

Before David was brought before Samuel, Samuel was certain he knew whom God had chosen.

1 Samuel 16:6 (NET) - When they arrived, Samuel noticed Eliab and said to himself, “Surely, here before the Lord stands his chosen king!”

But God does not look at people the way we do.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NET) - But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

This is certainly not the only time scripture discusses this.

The New Testament warns us that outward appearance can be deceiving, perhaps even our own.

Matthew 23:28 (NET) - In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Even the things we do to make ourselves more attractive on the outside are of little consequence.

1 Peter 3:3-4 (NET) - Let your beauty not be external—the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes— but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.

In the end, it is our internal beauty that matters most.

A beauty that is only perfected by knowing Christ.

By the way, there is one more thing I remember about the space program.

Namely, it is the missions that followed the first moon landing.

In very little time, people became tired of it and viewing figures plummeted.

In a short while, manned missions to the moon stopped altogether.

This reminds me of the Parable of the Sower, particularly of the seed sewn on rocky ground.

Matthew 13:20-21 (NET) - The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has no root in himself and does not endure; when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

Internal beauty is possible, and it can last a lifetime.

It only happens when we commit our hearts to the Lord for as long as we live.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, June 28, 2019.

I’ll be back here on Friday, July 5, 2019