Not By Chance

We live in a marvelous universe.

A universe that testifies to the existence of a designer.

Yet there are still those who cling to the notion that the universe and all in it are the result of chance.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

God created everything.

Genesis 1:1 (NET) - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

He created us in His image.

Genesis 1:27 (NET) - God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.

The Psalmist understood that he was part of a designed creation.

Psalm 139:16 (NET) - Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll before one of them came into existence.

The prophet Jeremiah understood that his role was part of that design.

Jeremiah 1:4-5 (NET) - The Lord’s message came to me, “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

In fact, all life points to a divine hand.

Job 12:7-10 (NET) - But now, ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the sky and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea declare to you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all the human race.

Yet people still cling to the notion that the entire universe is governed by chance.

But God is a god of reason.

1 Corinthians 14:33 (NET) - for God is not characterized by disorder but by peace.

Even the forms of technology we use daily remind us of the importance of design.

It takes teams of people to design complex pieces of technology.

Everything from cell phones to space stations are planned and executed down to the smallest detail.

These things cannot come into existence by chance.

What does that say for us?

We are more complex than any form of technology.

We simply cannot be products of chance.

Nor are those with whom we come into contact.

Jesus reminded us to love our neighbor.

Perhaps recognizing that our neighbor was designed by God would help.

After all, we were both made in His image.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at https://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, February 14, 2020.

I’ll be back here on Friday, February 21, 2020

The Shaper of My Faith

Faith is a very personal matter between a person and the Lord.

That said, there are people in our lives who help shape our faith.

In thinking about this, I can honestly say my mother did more to shape my faith than anyone else.

As a child, she taught me to pray.

As an adolescent, she encouraged me to study scripture.

She did the things mothers are supposed to do for their children.

But, she did so much more.

As she went through her day, I could hear her humming or singing her favorite hymns.

I also listened to scripture she recited.

There were passages she would turn to many times as I was growing up.

Passages like Psalm 23 were among her favorites.

There were others to be sure.

Psalm 121:1-2 (KJV) - I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

Another of her most often quoted Psalms was this one.

Psalm 18:2 (KJV) - The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Even when I was a child and she a vibrant woman, she knew the importance of relying on God’s strength.

Perhaps without realizing it, she was teaching that to me.

In time we would find our roles reversed.

One day it became my turn to take care of her.

Reliance on God’s strength helped her accept this reversal of roles with dignity and grace.

As more time passed, life became more difficult and painful for her.

Still, she relied on God’s strength to see her through each day.

Then came the day she left this world behind.

I don’t mind admitting that I leaned harder on God in the days that followed than I ever did before.

Later, I realized that God wanted me to do just that.

To lean on Him and trust in His strength rather than my own,

As time moves ever forward, I know I will have to rely on His strength more and more.

That’s as it should be.

The best teacher I ever had taught me that by word and by example.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, July 26, 2019.

I’ll be back here on Friday, August 2, 2019

Love, Respect and Dignity

One observation I have made through the years is that people often treat others according to their status.

In business, people tend to treat their bosses with more respect than they do their employees.

People in high positions of government expect to be addressed in certain ways.

In the world, it often boils down to what the other person can do for you.

I honestly believe that this is one area in life where Christians have a real advantage.

Jesus told us to love our neighbor.

Mark 12:30-31 (NET) - Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

That means we are to love everyone.

It does not matter what their worldly status happens to be.

It does not matter whether they can do things for us or not.

It does not even matter that they may not love us in return.

Other verses echo this as well.

Galatians 5:14 (NET) – For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”

What does loving our neighbor mean?

For one thing, it means treating everyone with respect and dignity.

The same respect and dignity we like to enjoy ourselves,

This is what I meant when I said the Christian has an advantage.

By treating everyone equally, we do not have to choose how we will treat an individual.

One of my favorite authors and theologians is John Amos Comenius (1592-1670).

He once put it this way: “Whenever you encounter one of your neighbors, regard him as yourself in another form (which he is), or indeed as God in another form, for he is the image of God, and God will be watching to see how reverently you treat him.”

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, July 27, 2018.

I’ll be back here on Friday, August 3, 2018

Dignity and Respect

One of the things I find interesting about the human race is the way we treat “important” people.

In business we tend to think of our superiors as important.

In politics we tend to think of our leaders as important.

We even tend to think of religious leaders as important.

Leaders are given titles and those titles denote their position within the structure of the body they serve.

In and of itself this is not a bad thing as it helps everyone within the structure function efficiently and effectively.

As humans, we tend to treat those above us in the structure as more important than ourselves.

In fact, we tend to think the higher up in the structure a person is, the more important that person must be.

Unfortunately, we tend to apply the same logic to those below us in the structure.

We tend to treat these individuals as if they were less important than ourselves.

There is nothing wrong with treating those that lead us with respect and dignity,

Plainly speaking, we should treat everyone with respect and dignity no matter what their station in life happens to be.

I do not think for a moment that God considers any one human being as being more important than another.

After all, God provided for the salvation of mankind long ago.

John 3:16 (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.

The passage continues.

John 3:17 (NET) - For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him.

Notice that these verses apply to “everyone” in “the world”.

Nowhere is it stated that salvation is reserved for “the important”.

That concept of importance is a human invention.

Every man and woman, leaders and followers alike, are creations of God.

All are created in His image.

As such, everyone should be treated with dignity and respect.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, October 9, 2015.

I’ll be back here on Friday, October 16, 2015