Jesus on Display

-
Spring Refreshment

This little one is clueless there is a virus attacking the world.
Hearing us talk about Jesus and the angels watching over him brings a smile to his face.
Maybe we should be talking about Jesus more and the virus less.
(I posted Saturday and Sunday, which I don't usually do, but I had plenty of time!)

In March, I read a sermon by David Jeremiah. It stated that "Jesus refers to what will happen at the end of the age as a 'pestilence'". (Luke 21:11)  It went on to give this definition from Merriam Webster for pestilence: "a contagion or infectious epidemic that is virulent and devastating."

Jeremiah said, "That's a pretty good description of what is going on right now.:  He continued, "Jesus said this pestilence would arrive like 'birth pains'  This means that it will increase in frequency and intensity in the time leading up to His return.  This means that as the end approaches, we should expect infectious disease outbreaks to occur more frequently, impact more people, and be more deadly.  This is what the coronavirus threatens to do."

He goes on to say covid19 probably isn't the pestilence Jesus was referring to, but it is none-the less a sign.  "A reminder of things we too easily forget. The coronavirus teaches us the vulnerability of everyone; the credibility of the Bible; the uncertainly of life; the scarcity of hope; and finally, the sufficiency of Jesus...Jesus doesn't just overcome the event. He overcomes the environment where the event happens, he explained. In these challenging days, we cannot forget what Jesus told us in 2nd Corinthians 12:9, that His grace is sufficient for us...The sufficiency of Jesus Christ for those who have put their trust in Him will be on display everywhere."  

My question for us today is...Is this experience changing us spiritually?  We may be socially distancing, donning masks, spending less money because we have less income, missing dinners with family and friends, but is there any difference in how our faith is being displayed?  

Do others see us as stressed and anxious or do they see us as people who truly believe God's grace is sufficient for all our needs?

May we display Jesus today!
"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence."
Jeremiah 17:1



Popular posts from this blog

She Fought the Good Fight

-
Image
February 27 Bible Gateway's verse yesterday was: This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him . 1 John 4:9 A fitting verse for the day my everyday friend, soul sister, monster of the faith and mischievous partner in crime, Kaye, left this world behind and headed to her heavenly home. My husband was able to be by her bedside and said he knew she heard the words of our faith that he shared. Her sweet daughter held the phone up to her ear so I could say good-bye and the brightest single star you have ever seen shown through my bedroom window as she exited this earth! Yesterday, my heart literally ached so badly that I told the Lord, "Take me too!" Wouldn't she have been surprised if I had snuck up on her in heaven and said, "Thought you were going somewhere without me, did ya." When we received the call she was ready to go, I called out to the Lord for comfort and He led me to the Bible Gat
Read more

Marriage Matters #1

-
Image
One of life's deepest hurts is when the one you love is unfaithful. Forty years ago, I remember an older friend, whose wife had been unfaithful and left him for another man saying to me..."Boo, I hope you never experience having the person you love and are married to, living 8 blocks away loving someone else." Deep hurt. They divorced. The wife of another friend of ours was having an affair with a fellow church member and a neighbor of theirs who lived 5 blocks away. She moved in with this man and our friend said one evening he was walking by the house where they were living together and saw them sitting at a table having a candlelight dinner. Ugh. The torment. I've always said it would be aweful to find out the person you were married to and  loved deeply loved another.  Hmm. We are the bride of Christ.  Is He our first love? 2 Peter 2:14 says: They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed
Read more

Are You Sinking... Being Tossed About?

-
Image
  A text came in from our neighbor recently, on a cold blustery day, when I was home with a stomach bug and awful headache. He said, "My canoe blew off our dock and has floated over to your shore."  And I'm thinking..."And you want me to do what?" I explained my husband was at work, but could help in the afternoon. I went to the window and could see the boat being tossed back and forth along our shore line. One minute it was close to our main dock and the next the winds had shifted and it was 200 feet in the opposite direction.  What I then realized is it had been taking on water. A text came again that he was in his car and driving around to our property.  Climbing out of my night shirt, I put on warm ups, UGGS boots and a hooded coat and limped outside to see how I could help. When I arrived to the shore line, the neighbor had tossed a 3 prong hook tied to a rope into the boat and was pulling it to the shore with one hand.  He had recently had hand surgery and
Read more