What a blessing it is to know that in the midst of a storm Christ is our solid rock. Before we set sail on the waves of another challenging week, Jesus is our anchor. I was so blessed by this virtual choir’s rendition of Solid Rock that I wanted to share it with you for Sunday. I also wanted to let anyone know that might be interested that Monday and Tuesday will be ebook giveaways for 2 devotional books and one resource book on Nursing Home Ministry. I will post the links and titles at the bottom of this post. Have a blessed Sunday everyone!
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1-2
It seems strange, though it shouldn’t at my age, to think that so many of my family and my friends have gone into eternity while I remain here. That sobering thought turns me to wondering what it will be like in my own last moments here and first moments before God. How brave will I be when I put my foot into the boat that will take me across God’s great river?
Though for the Christian there is no fear in death, it still seems so wrong – so unnatural – so contrary to the joy of life that is seated deep within our hearts no matter our age. One day it came to me; that, it feels unnatural because it is. God made us for life!
Everything in heaven is about life. Jesus is the way the truth and the LIFE. The words He spoke were Spirit and LIFE. He offers a a drink of LIVING water and whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal LIFE. There is nothing in God’s plan that has anything whatsoever to do with death. We must choose to live every day with our focus on life, because that is what He created us for. We may no longer be strong, but the strength of the life of Christ is greater in weakness. We might not be able to do certain things easily, but we can do all things through Christ. Then one day, in the words of the Apostle Paul, when death has been swallowed up in victory we will be changed from this life to the next. Depression and the fear of death lose their grip when we remember that Jesus has a life to give us that is more abundant and overflowing that we could ever imagine!
This wonderful video from the Mullett family is not just a well filmed piece – it is their story. Their son Austin passed away in 2010 after17 years of battling through one serious medical condition after another and yet they have turned their grief into a ministry of the joy of life that Jesus gives. I hope you will be as blessed as I was to watch. Maybe you will shed a happy tear when you are touched by the mystery of the joys and sorrows we pass through on the way to eternal life. Have a blessed week-end everybody!
When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. Mark 6:34 ESV
After this last year most of us are mentally and physically worn out. During the pandemic, many of us have lost friends and family to the virus and have gone through a time of isolation such as we have never known. Jesus had felt all of that and more after receiving the news that his cousin had been beheaded added to the fact that people were around him so much that we are told they did not even have a chance to eat. When Jesus suggested that they go somewhere to get away and rest I can picture the disciples doing a happy dance while shouting, “Amen!” But as Jesus stepped out of the boat at their getaway location he looked out and saw the crowd had followed them. You might think that He would see those people as a frustration or a burden. But, instead today’s verse says “He had compassion on them. because they were like sheep without a shepherd. ” He didn’t just see a crowd, He saw people – one by one. Considering that today there are 7.6 billion people in the crowd, aren’t you glad He knows you by name and wants to be your shepherd? And what does a shepherd do? – He makes sure the sheep get fed, and that is exactly what Jesus did next. Now back to the story. Remember that the disciples had not eaten since the day before and would have been delighted to see the crowds leave. But instead, Jesus invited those 12 hungry guys to become part of a miracle bigger than they could imagine.
But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” Mark 6:37
See as our shepherd the first thing Jesus does is teach us to shepherd others. Of course he could have just said, “Give me a loaf of bread!” and presto! – multiply it all by himself. Instead, He asks us all to see people as He does. The people around us are always just a mob, when we are more interested in our needs than theirs. But when we see people for who they are to Jesus, we will discover a compassion that makes sure that not one hungry child will get lost in the crowd!
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