Somehow, We'll Know

And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Mark 9:4

Would you know Elijah and Moses if they appeared to you today? Would we even know each other, if we haven't seen one another for these past twenty years? How will we know one another in Heaven when we meet with Jesus there? I do not know! But I do know that somehow Peter, James, and John knew who Elijah and Moses were in that moment on the mountain. Centuries separated the Lawgiver and the prophet from those three disciples, and yet they knew the names that went with the faces. Had our Lord chosen David and Isaiah to meet there, I'm convinced that the knowing would have been the same. And so it will go when we meet brothers and sisters in Christ who we never met on this earth due to time or distance. New name given by our Lord, new incorruptible appearance granted by God, don't try to hide, I'll still be able to find you there in God's Heaven! And great will be our rejoicing in Jesus Christ!

Bucky

The Pull Of Attraction

But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire. James 1:14 BBE

BBE, Bible in Basic English, of course you knew that already. I didn't. Occasionally I like to explore different translations of the Bible to help me understand the Word. Here is what this verse says in my usual New King James version:

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

Attraction, desire, enticement, all refer to that pull of the flesh for food, clothing, water, sleep, and many other things. Hunger lets a person know it is time to eat something, but a little further down the path comes gluttony. And indeed in the passage James goes on to tell of that slippery slope from attraction to sin and on to death. And it can be difficult to know for sure whether that attraction to a person is simple lust or the sort of pull toward a person leading to love. We even confuse the issue further by telling of our love for foods and other things. As it is a test, we know that failure is an option we may fall into at times. Praise God for His mercy in those tests of attraction that we fail.

Bucky

Hey, Pray!

Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:12

Reading along with the story the characters come to a trap, crisis, problem, or challenge of unusual proportions, and we marvel that they do not have a better solution. Easily do we call upon those fictional people to pray to God and call upon His name. Instead they waste time worrying, fretting, arguing, fighting, and running about like those proverbial headless birds. Then life comes a calling to you or me, and we... worry, fret, argue and so on. How is it so easy for us to see the need when it is there on the book page and then be so dense when it is our turn? We need a 'Hey, pray!' from a fellow soldier in Christ, a little intervention from the beloved of our Lord. It happens to the least of us, we get caught up in the problem and forget to call on the One who has the solutions. New believers or well-experienced warriors in the challenges of following Jesus our Lord, each may suffer that temporary amnesia for prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.

Therefore, be on the lookout for your brothers and sisters in Christ, and give them a 'Hey, pray!' when the need comes.

Bucky

Prayer, Quietly

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.  Matthew 6:6

From the great sermon of our Lord on the mountain, we have this instruction on prayer. And in these latter years we might parse and parcel this one verse to start in on others with more instructions. "You shouldn't pray in church!" the zealous one says to the pastor. "Sorry, but I need this room for a prayer room," the well-meaning father says as he takes over a child's bedroom. And who among us hasn't held our hands out for those open rewards? In the great sermon there are other instructions on prayer, including that manner of prayer we are to use. Also, the instruction in our verse today came from avoiding those public prayers that only call attention to the prayer shouter and caused the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. Not every public prayer is or was done for that reason.

If we want to pray in the secret place, what better door to shut than the mouth, and what better secret room than that of the mind where only God will hear? Have a prayer with the Father, quietly. 

Bucky

He Makes Us

This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”  Romans 1:17 NLT

Sometimes we may fall into thinking that we have something useful to offer the Lord our God. As if the Almighty could somehow have need for an all-weaky to do something for Him. But that sort of depressed thinking doesn't take into account the love of the Lord! So, as we have nothing to offer up to Him but our old sinful selves, God gave us the Good News and set about making us into something His Son can bring home to Him. As Paul tells us, by faith we become a great accomplishment of the Lord. In other words, He makes us something. Something righteous, something grand, something wonderful in Christ the Lord who is called Wonderful. 

So heads up, Christians, and let us resume our march to the Holy City! 

Bucky

Endure Hardship Gratefully

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 2:3

While we would mostly like to avoid hardship, it is hardship that makes us most proud of our service. If a veteran can recall no hardship from their service, they probably think they somehow did it wrong or were cheated. In this world hardship seems to go with service of any type. This is not to say that service cannot be rewarding and even enjoyable at times. One way to gain reward from service is with a grateful heart. That isn't an easy thing to do. But who can help us with that? The One who saved us of course, our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ!

And we also have the great privilege of praying one for another, what a loving service that is!

Happy Veterans Day! Thank you for allowing us to serve you.

Bucky

Targeted Generosity?

Let my plea come before you;
deliver me according to your word.
-- Psalm 119:170

I read about a plea going out last night by way of thanks to the responders this morning. No, the actual plea was not seen or made public it seems, nor the reason for the plea except for the mention of 'fire'. You have likely seen these before on social media, and it can be frustrating to our curiosity. "What happened?" one commenter noted on the post; no doubt speaking for a great many other readers. But I get it too. People can be quite generous, even overly so, when a disaster happens. Stories of mountains of donated clothing abound in the aftermath of disasters. A family who has just lost their house doesn't need to be burdened with several hundred pounds of used clothing. So targeted generosity may be wise at such a time. If a few can take care of the need, then there is no need to ask from hundreds. Which brings us to pleading with our Lord in prayer.

We know by faith that we will receive from our Lord just what we need. And, even if we do not know the names or the story, we can plead for the needs of those the Lord knows well.

Just pray!

Bucky

P.S. My 'plea' search led me to a scripture with the highest number of digits I've ever used, I think!