Bible Reading Day

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the starts will fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other" Matthew 24:29-31 

       It is a powerful habit for the Christian to consider, at the beginning of each day, the return of His Lord. His return his imminent and the church must be ready. Let us not grow lazy in caring for our Masters goods. God has entrusted to each of us a life in accordance with our abilities, (Matthew 25:15) Sometimes, someone else's life may look more appealing, easier, gentler. For some people life just seems to always go right. While for you life just knocks you about regardless of your plans and despite your defenses. Contentment with this life comes down to a matter of perspective and trust. Does your perspective allow you to view this life on this earth only preparation for an eternal life to come? And do you trust the God of both this world and the next enough to believe that the life entrusted to you is the destiny ideally suited for you. Do not seek to eagerly the life of another for God has given to each man a life equal to his talents. How do you know that if you were to abandon your life and gain the life of him whom you envied that the troubles and cares of that new existence would be found more taxing, more unendurable, more tempting than the life you have now. 

     Jesus commands us to "Watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour." (Matthew 25:13) There is urgency. There is punishment for not heeding his voice. For the servant who is found taking advantage of the divine mercies will be put into the "outer darkness where their will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." What are the mercies of God? Even the very lowliest of human beings has life and life is a mercy unmerited and unearned. Let us at the very least give thanks to God for life and pledge Him our service for this gift alone is one humanity is incapable of repaying. 

"Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." I Corinthians 10:12 

Thankfulness Post #8

             Every few days something happens that makes me pause and wonder. The small everyday mysterious of life. The oddities of everyday that remind me humans are not all powerful when it comes to this world and sometimes we just need to sit back and laugh at our own stupidity. 

Mysteries like the following.

1. The dryer that can't do it's job with demanding at least one sock in payment. Resulting in this.
                                                                 

2. The couch that will not be comfortable without first eating several pens or small objects from your pockets

3. The pot of noodles that won't boil if you are too close but will burn if you are too far away.
                                                    
4. How fifteen more minutes in bed = thirty seconds of real time.

5.  The reality that 8 cups of coffee is really only about 4.

6. Where hair ties go?

7. Ticklishness. Seriously why does it bother to exist?

      The list goes on. These are just a few that make me laugh and wonder. Wonder if maybe fairies are real, if machines might actually be alive, if something exists beyond just the laws of physics and chemistry which can alter the world we live in. 

Thankfulness Post #7

     It's a pretty normal question for religious people to ask, "what is God's will for me?" It's important to ask and even more important to obey when God answers. For anyone who isn't sure what God's will is for them, I have a simple answer to at least get you started doing what He made you to do. Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Thessalonians, in chapter 5 verses 16-18 a few things that are God's will for us. 

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 

     So we ask God questions like, "Where should I go to college?" "Who should I marry?" "What career should I have?" "Who do I sit next to at lunch?" "How would you like me to treat my siblings" ect... My thought and my experience agree that becoming good at the parts of God's will He has revealed to us in scripture will bring us to a place where we are ready for God to give us answers to more specific questions about our individual lives. So the Bible has alot of basic commands which we know are God's will. I listed three above. 1. Rejoice always,. 2. Pray continually. 3. Give thanks in all circumstances. It makes sense that we should start working on the parts of God's will that He has shown to us, than if we are faithful in doing that, than He'll answer the other questions. 

     The application is this. If you aren't sure where your supposed to go to college or some question like that. Start working on the things God has already told you to do and just keep your eyes and ears open for an answer to your other question. It's often the case that in obeying God's basic commands to love, to sacrifice and to be thankful we find answers to those personal questions which we want God to answer. 

     All that doesn't really have anything to do with what this post was supposed to be about, except that in an attempt to rejoice more and be thankful more I'm going to continue these thankfulness posts indefinitely. 

     Today I'm thankful for hair. Mine in particular but occasionally for other peoples as well. You can laugh or scoff or whatever, that's fine. It's funny what things we learn to think are beautiful and what things we can just ignore. I can't say why, as long as I can remember I've always appreciated hair and wanted to grow mine long. The Spartans used to say, "Long hair adds beauty to a good face and terror to an ugly one" Another quote by Khalil Gibran summarizes me quite well. "Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the wind longs to play with your hair."  

Qui Gon Jinn from Episode I is my favorite person from Star Wars. Yoda is my favorite character. 

     I'm thankful that I"m thankful for hair. Like imagine the poor person whose most thankful for something obscure or out of the ordinary like the weekend, or vacation, things that aren't around most of the time. Most everyone has hair and most everyone tries to take good care of it so it's always around and it's a constant reminder to be thankful. 

An attempt at making my hair like Edward Elric's.

     In closing take good care of your hair and grow it longer. Well kept hair frames the face and highlights it's beauty. Have a good week everybody.