Friday, May 16, 2008
Search Your Hearts
Psalm 4:4 says, "In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent."
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Our Guide
Years ago, I was employed as a secretary. The man I worked for was a tour guide for a travel agency. Vacationing explorers could go halfway around the globe and learn about their new surroundings firsthand from my boss. Promotional literature would even have cover statements like, "Tour Italy with Gilbert Schnalden." (not his real name, or the country)
Although I never went on such an excursion, I could safely assume that the travelers he led from one interesting site to another found assurance and comfort in his knowledge of the culture, the land and it's people. They surely must have trusted him. To have gone alone on their trip to an unknown destination would have been frightening, to say the least.
I may not have been on many far away vacations in my life, but I am on a constant journey. Each day brings its own possibilities and challenges. I can never know for sure what God may have planned for me to experience. One thing I know; I wouldn't want to take this trip without a guide. It would just be too frightening. Who could I trust to be my guide on such an endeavor? God is the only choice, and He promises to be there when I need Him, from beginning to end.
Which way should I go? Where do I turn? My Guide will tell me, one intersection at a time.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Faith in Me
Are you ready for the test? First question: What does a Christian look like? "Hmmm. Well, they all talk like...I mean, they all just seem to.....Uh, of course, they would all have.... Okay. What's question two??"
It's not that easy to consider, is it? (Question two was easy.) Once we have made the choice to believe God's plan of salvation through Jesus, His Son, why don't we look like someone else who has made the same decision? In many ways, we do; in many ways, we don't.
Let's say that older gentleman who always wears a heavy suitcoat to church (even in the summer) has been a Christian since he was 27. The young lady you saw last week working at the Crisis Pregnancy Center is truly devoted to her Lord and Savior. Funny thing, though; she has a tatoo on her arm and a pierced lip... Your cousin, who has gone on several mission trips to the Northwest, wears way too much turquoise jewelry, even when it doesn't match his shirt. Could they all possibly fit into the same category?
I really like roses. God created a beautiful thing when He fashioned the rose. The red rose. The yellow rose. The pink rose. The large rose. The tiny rose. What about, say, the carnation? It's beautiful, too, AND it just happens to be a flower--just as the rose is a flower.
Our brother or sister in Christ may be more like us than we think. They may just be a rose in the budding stage, with not too many petals showing. They may bloom into a brilliant yellow to one day compliment our ruby red as we serve the Lord with our differing "color." The Christian colleagues at work may appear to be multi-faceted carnations with blended pastel shades, but when it comes right down to it, well, you have to admit, they are flowers, after all.
Upon closer inspection, I think we will find that a Christian is reflecting the character of Christ in what they do and what they say. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing."
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