Monthly Archives: December 2016

Kindness

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The divers came upon a whale, tangled in an abandoned net, who would die if not released.  Trouble was, the whaled was freaked out and likely to injure or kill them if they got close enough to help.  But by their gentle and peaceful approach they gradually won her trust.  She allowed them to begin the tortuous task of cutting away the tough net to set her free.  Their gentleness, their kindness, convinced the whale she could trust them and submit to their rescue procedures.  I watched this amazing story with awe and will give you the link below.  But read this verse from Romans carefully and think about that principle:

4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?   (Romans 2:4)

God’s kindness was costly.  He accepted the risk of excruciating death in order to draw close enough to cut away the net that holds us captive.  Don’t dismiss that kindness or take it for granted.  Submit to what He is trying to do for you.  Let Him cut you free.

To watch the whale video, click HERE.  Make sure to watch all the way to the end to see a pretty good image of what Jesus meant by “life to the full.”

 

 

Finding Joy

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When you see the word “Joy!” on Christmas cards and decorations, do you flinch?  Do you ask, “Where’s the joy?”  So many do at this time of year.  Does holiday joy seem artificial, forced and frantic?  So many activities of the season hold the promise of joy but leave us feeling empty.

There is a reliable solution. But it’s not just for Christmas.  It is a prescription for joy that lasts beyond the season, revealed in this teaching of Jesus:

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:9-12)

Love is a primary ingredient, necessary for sustained joy.  If you know in your bones you are truly and unconditionally loved, it changes your mood from the bottom up.  Joy becomes possible despite circumstances that would otherwise sap it.  So Jesus begins His lesson with a reminder that you are loved by God – really!  The love Jesus extends to us is the same as the love God the Father extends to Him.  How much does The Father in Heaven, the One Who is love, love His One and Only Son?  That’s how much you are loved.   Really understanding that is step one.

Step two is learning to experience that constant love.  Jesus says if you keep His commands, you will “remain” in His love.  The word, remain, means to make your home in or dwell in the experience of His love as a constant reality.  Note that He did NOT say He wouldn’t love you if you didn’t do what He said.  He said you wouldn’t “remain” in the experience of being loved.  His love does not change based on what you do, your ability to experience this love changes.  Love must be known, it must feel real and deep in order to produce joy.  If you want to experience the love God has for you, get in step with how Jesus instructed us to live.

Jesus told us this for two astounding reasons.  He wants our joy to actually be His joy.   And, He wants for us to have joy that is complete.   Unadulterated.  Not faked for the season but bubbling up from within our souls in a sustained way.  That’s my wish for you, too.

“Joy to the World, the Lord is come…”

Ann Maree’s Paintings

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Ann Maree BeamanAfter my wife, Ann Maree, died I stopped selling her oil paintings for a time of grieving and distributing favorite paintings to the family, etc.  But now, in response to several inquiries I have selected some of her work to offer for sale.  If you would like more information, or would like to simply view the paintings, you can do so by clicking HERE.

I realize this post is not on topic, but since I announced her death to my followers here, I decided to provide this follow-up as well.

Grace and Peace,

Tom

Square Bidness

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Square bidness.  Translation?  I am telling you the absolute truth.  I learned that expression from New York slum street kids back in the 60’s.  Don’t know if they still say it, but God does.  Check this out:

18 For this is what the Lord says—
he who created the heavens,
he is God;
he who fashioned and made the earth,
he founded it;
he did not create it to be empty,
but formed it to be inhabited—
he says:
“I am the Lord,
and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret,
from somewhere in a land of darkness;
I have not said to Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain.’
I, the Lord, speak the truth;
I declare what is right.  (Isaiah 45:18-19)

Sometimes I underline or highlight the main ideas in long Bible sentences, as I have done above.  That’s so I can hang on the main thrust of what is written.  In this passage, the main idea is that God, the only One Who is real, made the earth to be inhabited by us and has clearly told us in His Word how to find Him.  If we seek Him, He said, it won’t be in vain.

Think about how much effort around the world goes into the pursuit of God, most of it in vain because the method of seeking has been designed by what people have imagined would work.  But God said, “Look, if you want to truly find me you have to seek in the way I have clearly told you.  It’s not some secret knowledge but is clearly laid out in My Word.  Seek Me in that true way and it won’t be in vain.”

And Jesus added,

45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.”  (John 6:45-48)

Square bidness.