Jesus Take Me Away - John 16

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” 

John 16:33

Life is hard.

Today in the world we will read of people dying from malnourishment, war, disease, false imprisonment, anger, hatred, bigotry, and even genocide.

Today we will witness crimes of passion, negligence, apathy, and premeditation.

Today we will watch the news reports of increased debt, decreased wealth and inflamed poverty – right here in the United States.

And today, we will want Jesus to take care of it all. 

We will want to be like that old commercial for bath product – “Calgon Take Me Away!”  - but instead we will want to shout: “Jesus – Take Us Away!”

In the midst of all of the troubles of this world, we often wonder:

Where is Jesus?

Where is the one who loves us and has given us his grace?

Where is the Savior of the world – because the world needs some serious saving?

But what we must remember is that Jesus is just where he said he would be. He is with the Father – and he sent us the Counselor – The Holy Spirit to be in us and to help guide us through these dark and trying times.

Jesus never promised us that life would be easy. 

He never promised us that we would have a world filled with sunshine, rainbows and unicorns. 

People will suffer – as much as we hate to see or even to experience that suffering first hand – that is what scripture tells us; that is what Jesus told us.

“In this world you will have trouble…” Not exactly a Hallmark Greeting Card love letter – but it is the truth. This world is a dangerous and sometimes quite despicable place to be, but it is not hopeless. No, it certainly isn’t hopeless.

We can have hope because despite all of the wicked ways of this world we have a thread of hope in the knowledge that Jesus overcame this world. Jesus defeated all of the sin and the evilness of this world with his single sacrificing act of death on a cross. We have hope because we have Jesus in our hearts – because we have Jesus in our lives. We have hope because we have Jesus as our Savior.

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” 

Praise God from Whom All Blessings Surely Do Flow!

Scripture

 John 16

 Quote

“Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.”

Mr. Cosby Himself - Bill Cosby

Receiving God's Blessing

What does it mean to give a blessing?

We tend to think of a blessing as the time of grace before a meal or a kind word said from one person to another, but a blessing is truly a word from God.

As the nation of Israel was forming their traditions and practices based in direct instruction from God, He told Moses to have the priests bless the Israelites:

The LORD bless you
and keep you;
the LORD make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;

the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

God was telling the Israelites that He loved each of them, that He was with each of them, that He was watching each of them and that He would give them His presence.

To know that the LORD loves you and that He wants to give you peace is truly an amazing gift. Knowing, above everything else, that the LORD only wishes good for you is a powerful notion. The Creator of all of the earth and everything in the entire universe, cares about you. He is watching you. He loves you. How could you not have a sense of peace even in the rockiest of storms with that knowledge residing in your head and in your heart.

God's love and blessing transcends any negative situation in our lives. Knowing that God's will is for your best interest in all things should create in you a peace which will ease even the most trying of circumstances.

A blessing is so much more than thanking God for the food we eat. A blessing is a message of God's peace in your every day life.

May the LORD bless you this day and may you always feel His face shining brightly toward you.

Scripture

Numbers 6:22-27

Quote of the Day

"When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedtly given in its place."

C.S. Lewis

Question of the Day

What is the biggest blessing in your life?

Looking Forward with Desire...

What does hope mean to you?

 Hope defined is, "to look forward with desire and reasonable confidence." To hope in something or for something is to believe that it will come true and to anticipate the day that hope will be fulfilled.

When we hope, we have a direction in our lives which gives our lives  purpose. Hope is fundamental to being a Christian. Each day we wake up, we have hope that today will be better than yesterday. We have hope and therefore we anticipate the beautiful things God will do in our lives - each moment of the day.

But ultimately our hope lies in the promise of what is yet to come - a future we have not seen but we have been promised.

 "He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain..."

(Revelation 21:4)

A future with no more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears - This is what we can hope for and not yet see. We know this is coming - God promised it to us - it is a future we look forward to with great desire and we have confidence in this future coming to fruition.

Hope is powerful. Hope can save a failing marriage; Hope can give a POW another day; Hope creates excitement for the next step in life. Hope in tomorrow is what gives us the will to live out today. The hope in God's promises is what gives us joy in the harshest of circumstance. Hope transcends all conditions and gives us the desire to press-on.

I recently read an acronymn for HOPE: Have Only Positive Expectations. How different would your world be if you went into every day, situation and experience only anticipating positive outcomes? That would be living a life of HOPE.

Scripture

Romans 8:23-25

Quote of the Day

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what is still possible for you to do."
Pope John XXII

Question of the Day

What is your greatest hope for the future?

Don't Forget - GUMY is THIS SUNDAY!!! We are playing Goofy GUMY Games - - You don't want to miss out!!!