Family

I ran into a stranger as he passed by.
“Oh, excuse me please” was my reply.
He said, “Please excuse me too; wasn’t even watching for you.”
We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said good-bye.

But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.
Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My daughter stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked her down.
“Move out of the way,” I said with a frown.
She walked away, her little heart broken.
I didn’t realize how harshly I’d spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,
God’s still small voice came to me and said
“While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,
But the children you love, you seem to abuse.

The Christian Way to Glory, Part Four

“And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us.” – [esvignore]Romans 8:23[/esvignore] NLT

Those who are in Christ are bound for glory. Along the way we will suffer, but the Apostle Paul assures us that our suffering will not compare to the weight of glory that is ours in Christ. Paul points us to the glorious new world in which God’s people will live. And then he points us to the fact that we, too, will be made into new creations!

I Found Jesus There

The surgeon sat beside the boy’s bed; the boy’s parents sat across from him. “Tomorrow morning,” the surgeon began, “I’ll open up your heart…”

“You’ll find Jesus there,” the boy interrupted.

The surgeon looked up, annoyed. “I’ll cut your heart open,” he continued, “to see how much damage has been done…”

“But when you open up my heart, you’ll find Jesus in there.” The surgeon looked to the parents, who sat quietly.

“When I see how much damage has been done, I’ll sew your heart and chest back up and I’ll plan what to do next.”

“But you’ll find Jesus in my heart. The Bible says He lives there. The hymns all say He lives there. You’ll find Him in my heart.”

The surgeon had had enough. “I’ll tell you what I’ll find in your heart. I’ll find damaged muscle, low blood supply, and weakened vessels. And I’ll find out if I can make you well.”

The Christian Way to Glory, Part Three

“The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope that the creation itself would be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” – [esvignore]Romans 8:19-21[/esvignore]

The Apostle Paul had suffered for his faith, but he was completely confident that what he suffered in this life, some of it nearly unbearable, would pale in comparison to the glory that faithful followers of Jesus will experience in the future. How could Paul be so confident? How can we be so confident? What do we have to look forward to that’s so compelling, so glorious, that it outweighs any hardship or suffering we can experience in this life?

Fear of Flying

There was a religious woman who had to do a lot of traveling for her business. Flying made her very nervous, so she always took her Bible along with her.

One time, she was sitting next to a man. When he saw her pull out her Bible, he gave a little chuckle and smirk and went back to what he was doing.

After a while, he turned to her and asked, “You don’t really believe all that stuff in there do you?”

The woman replied, “Of course I do. It is the Bible.”

He said, “Well, what about that guy that was swallowed by that whale?”

She replied, “Oh, Jonah. Yes, I believe that, it is in the Bible.”

He asked, “Well, how do you suppose he survived all that time inside the whale?”

The woman said, “Well, I don’t really know. I guess when I get to heaven, I will ask him.”

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