Good Friday morning! The temperature was spring-like again this morning; we may yet have what a person can call spring this year... for a month or so. I tried to say that I made my first official walk of the season this morning, but I realized that I cannot say that until I have my second walk. Otherwise there is no 'season' to speak of. I did take a few photos, but the green has not come out much in the trees yet. The grass... looks nice, but now I'm writing about trees and grass when I should be writing a devotional about Jesus our Lord. Actually, when trying to encourage someone the dumbest things can be distracting from their present grief or trouble. We can say, "Jesus loves you!" and the person realizes that, but telling about the love of God for his creation is also good and sometimes more immediate to the person.
Yes, we should feel that Jesus is closer to us that anything else, but in grief and distress it may not seem that way. So we can show the love of Jesus through the way he cares for the trees and grass each spring. How the plants all come back to life after a long and cold winter shows that each new spring is a season of promise and hope in Christ. We may be able to see more of Jesus by his works at times of distress. This is what James wrote so long ago in his epistle when he exhorted us to show our faith through good works. We can tell a friend about our faith, and that is a good witness, but proving our faith through our good works really speaks volumes about what is in our hearts. Activities like our church moving ministry are a very good witness. People notice even if they say nothing at the time. Neighbors may not come out, but behind the panes of glass in their windows they see what is going on. So... we should all trade houses once a month just to show our moving ministry! Right? Hey, where did everyone go?
Anything can be taken too far of course. Moving a household is a lot of heavy work; we might want to pause for a little consideration before we get too out of hand there. Of course, in speaking for myself anyway, if I had to move each month, there would be a whole lot less to move in short order. Which would kind of ruin the witness from moving all that stuff. I think I'll stop trying to improve the ministry and just enjoy the opportunities that God has provided. When we set out to witness, we can become too controlling. Ideas shouldn't be ruthlessly stomped on of course, but we can let God run the show too. After all we did surrender our lives and commit to Jesus at the cross. Surely we can let go and let God provide the opportunities just a little maybe. Accept what He provides and praise His name... before we get in trouble telling Him all that needs to be done in our humble opinions.
Sound a little contradictory there? God did provide us with human brains and a spirit full of ideas too. That is why we talk with God often, daily, even constantly! We just finished the National Day of Prayer, but we shouldn't need such a thing in the first place. Every day is a chance to present our ideas to God. Some of my ideas, like the one above, He might say "Whoa, there!", but God is always the first one to hear my idea anyway. I might as well listen for an answer!
Praise the name of Jesus!
Bucky
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