It All Depends on Love

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 season of Lent began on Wednesday, February 14, 2018.

Incidentally, February 14 also happened to be St. Valentine’s Day, a day set aside for the celebration of love.

Setting aside human notions of romance for the moment, it seems fitting that both fell on the same day.

The verse above is one of the most widely memorized passages in all of scripture.

Rightly so, for it reminds us of just how much God loves each of us.

So much so that He gave His Only Son to save the world.

Scripture also has a great deal more to say about love.

1 John 4:19 (NET) - We love because he loved us first.

This is quite profound but there is still more.

1 John 4:20 (NET) - If anyone says “I love God” and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

This reminds us that only those who love their fellow man can truly say that they love God.

Granted, this is not always easy for us to do.

But the season of Lent reminds us of what God did to prove His love for us.

It also reminds us of the love Jesus has for us as well.

Jesus was mocked, beaten and crucified for us.

He also forgave those who inflicted these things upon Him.

If Jesus could forgive so much, should we be unwilling to forgive others of so little?

The essence of Christianity is two-fold.

God the Father creates, His Son redeems and the Holy Spirit makes holy.

Our response to God and to our fellow man must be rooted in faith, hope and love.

Faith is a wonderful thing to possess.

Who among us does not like to have hope.

But scripture reminds us that love is greater than faith and hope.

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

As our journey through Lent continues, let us be reminded of the love extended to us.

Let us also be mindful that love is a gift that is best when it is shared.

With Blessings and LOVE,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, February 23, 2018.

I’ll be back here on Friday, March 2, 2018

Having Enough Light

I once heard a funny story that stuck with me.

A woman comes home and finds her husband in the living room on his hands and knees.

She asks him what he is dong.

He tells her that he is looking for a coin that he lost in the basement.

A bit confused, she asks why he is looking in the living room.

He replies, “Because the light is better.”

In Chapter 8 of the book of John. Jesus refers to Himself as “the light of the world”.

John 8:12 (NET) - Then Jesus spoke out again, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

As we continue our journey through the season of Lent, the importance of that verse struck me.

If we wish to find what we truly need in this world we require a good source of light.

The darker the environment, the more difficult it is to see that which we are looking for.

Throughout our lives we pursue different things.

A career, a place to live, a spouse and children are just a few of the things we search for in life.

Jesus is the “light of the world” and He indeed helps us to find these things.

As the light of the world, He also helps us see one other very important thing – our motivation.

We strive to achieve much in this world, but we should always be aware of what is motivating us in the pursuit.

We need to examine our motivation in every decision we make.

God expects to be first in our lives.

Everything we do should be with Him in mind.

When we put God first, He helps us prioritize everything else.

The light of Jesus us helps us clearly see where our motivation lies.

If our motivation is pure, He helps us see that.

If not, He helps us see that as well,

When we rely on Jesus, He provides the light by which we see the truth.

Unlike the man in the story, He also helps us look in the right place.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, March 25, 2016.

I’ll be back here on Friday, April 1, 2016

Keeping It Simple

The world in which we live is often complicated.

We have constant access to information but in reality learn little that is useful.

We find new ways to stay busy but accomplish little.

We have politicians who make promises yet little, if anything, improves once they are elected.

We have laws designed to protect us yet we live among those who have learned how to manipulate them.

We may live in nations that produce enough food to sell yet some of our citizens are hungry.

We rush out to purchase the latest in technology while its replacement is already in development.

The world is a complicated place.

Even Christians occasionally feel overwhelmed by it.

Although we have everything we need to succeed we sometimes feel that we are struggling.

Although we are told never to fear we sometimes find that worry is our constant companion.

Although we are told to love God we sometimes find it difficult to make time for Him.

Although we are told to love our neighbor but we sometime tend to love only certain people.

Rather than alleviating the confusion of the world we instead find ways to contribute to it.

Perhaps we can take a lesson from the world of sports.

When a team is struggling to succeed, the coach of that team often focuses on the fundamentals of the sport.

He goes back to the basics.

The players go through the mechanics of running, throwing, and kicking over and over as they practice.

Going back to the basics often helps the team remember what works as they rebuild for future success.

Perhaps we need to go back to the basics as well.

An expert in the law once asked Jesus which was the most important commandment.

Jesus gave him in two parts.

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.”

Jesus understood that if we truly kept these commandments we would essentially be keeping every commandment.

Love should be at the root of everything we do or say whether for God or our fellow man.

It really does not get any more basic than that.

If we can do that we cannot help but succeed.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, September 11, 2015.

I’ll be back here on Friday, September 18, 2015

Give Us This Day

Luke 11:8 (NET) - I tell you, even though the man inside will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man’s sheer persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

The other day I found myself thinking about an old friend who passed away many years ago.

He and I were both part of a circle of friends who used to gather at a restaurant most evenings.

There, we would enjoy a cup of coffee or two, swap stories and simply enjoy the company of friends.

This particular friend was much older than I was.

In fact, he was originally my father’s friend.

My father died at a relatively young age and, as time passed, this old gentleman and I became quite good friends.

He had many interesting experiences in his lifetime and I always enjoyed the stories he shared with me.

One evening the group gathered together as was customary.

As we shared whatever happened to be on our minds, this particular friend finished his coffee before the rest of us.

He walked up to the counter to get a refill but the staff on duty that evening ignored his presence at the counter.

I could tell by the look on my friends face that he was growing agitated.

The next thing I knew, he walked out the door with his empty cup.

I assumed that my old friend was so upset at having been ignored that he decided to home.

What happened next surprised everyone.

Suddenly the bell that chimed when a car pulled up to the drive up window began to ring both loudly and repeatedly.

DING, DING, DING, DING. DING...

We all turned our heads because we never heard the bell chime more than twice for any given car.

Finally, one of the staff walked up to the drive up window and opened it.

The bell stopped chiming and I saw my friend’s arm barge through the open window holding the empty cup in his hand.

It was this old friend who repeatedly stomped on the hose that activated the bell in order to get some service.

The surprised employee took the cup from his hand, refilled it and handed it back to him.

I then saw my friend’s arm disappear into the night.

The rest of us could not help but laugh at our friend‘s creative solution.

A moment later, he walked back inside and sat down with us once more.

As I relived this memory of him, I could not help but laugh all over again.

This also brought to mind that particular verse from the book of Luke.

At times, one man responds to another’s request only when the man making the request becomes persistent.

My old friend was served when he persisted in ringing the bell thus forcing the restaurant staff into action.

When it comes to prayer, we can approach God boldly and He will respond favorably if our request is aligned with both His will and His timing.

He does this not out of obligation or our persistence.

He does this because of His genuine love for us.

In the Lord’s prayer we are instructed to request our daily bread which is a necessity,

I find it more than interesting that the persistent man requested  bread for another in the example Jesus gave to us.

Not only should we request that which is necessary for us, we should also request that which is necessary for others.

This is especially true when we pray for those who have not come to know Him for their need is the greatest of all.


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

Back to the Basics

I recently attended a seminar held at my church which I enjoyed very much.

One of the things the speaker stressed in this seminar were the concepts of "essentials" and "non-essentials".

Since attending that seminar I have read numerous devotionals, prayers and other types of posts written by my friends.

A good many of these dealt with the different types of struggles we encounter.

Often. we as individual believers struggle.

There are times when entire church congregations struggle.

There are even times when it seems that the entire body of believers who call themselves Christians struggle.

I asked myself the question. "When we find ourselves struggling,  what would be a good course of action to take?"

It occurred to me, that when coaches see their teams struggling, one of the most successful remedies they employ is having their athletes focus on the fundamentals.

That means going back to the basics.

More often than not, this strategy proves to be quite effective.

Why not take the same approach when we find ourselves struggling as Christians?

That means focusing on, the "essentials".

I then reflected on the essentials, which, according to the speaker are threefold.

First and foremost, it means focusing on God and how he reaches down to us.

God is perfect.

God is perfectly righteous and perfectly Holy.

We are not.

Yet God reaches down to us with His grace.

He does so through Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:24 (NET) - But hey are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

He reaches to us with the Holy Spirit.

John 14:26 (NET) - But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to  you.

On the other end of the spectrum, we find another component of the "essentials", namely ourselves and how we choose to respond to God.

How should we respond to God as He reaches down to us?

We should respond with the gifts he has given to us.

These gifts consist of faith, love and hope.

We must have faith in God, understand that our hope lies with Him and love Him with all of our being.

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

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was , His answer was in two parts.

Please note the first part.

Matthew 22:37-38 (NET) - Jesus said to him, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.

So, we have God reaching down to us.

We in turn give back to God our love, our faith and our hope.

How is this even possible?

It is only possible because of the other key component of the "essentials".

The bridge provided by God for us, namely, Jesus Christ.

John 3:16-17  (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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.

Struggle is inevitable.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is go back to the fundamentals.

I know what some of your are asking right now.

Does that mean that other things are not important?

Of course not.

It must be understood that the word "non-essential" does not mean "unimportant".

There are many important things to Christians and the Christian way of life.

The reading of scripture is an excellent example.

Everything else aside, the relationship we as human beings (the created) have with God (the Creator) through Jesus Christ (the redeemer) is central to what it means to be a Christian.

Making certain that this relationship is what it should be can go a long way in helping us resolve our struggles.


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