Joy in the Journey

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. John 20:3 Can you draw a picture of Peter and “the other disciple” [John]? I cannot but when we see depictions of the apostles John is tall and lithe and Peter is shorter and burly. I don’t know why. I suppose it’s based on the men of the time and the attributes ascribed to each one in the Bible.   If we believe those descriptions to be accurate then it makes sense that John arrives first. Peter, chunky boy that he is, comes huffing and puffing bringing up the rear.   That could be why but today I’m wondering if there is another explanation. Peter and John were both very close to Jesus. John stuck with Jesus to the last breath. Peter ran. He denied their friendship and then he ran and hid. Now, the tomb is empty.   Of course they want to see it for themselves. They want to know what happened. Where is Jesus if not in the tomb? ...

  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. Ephesians 3:17b-18 My little granddaughter Abigail, is at the perfect age. She is nineteen months old, chubby and absolutely adorable. She loves life and is as content to sit and watch as she is to get up and dance.   Whatever she’s doing, she does it with a sweet innocence and openness to the world around her that is the lot of life of children raised in happy homes by loving parents. Abigail is very attached to her mama but when it comes to superheroes she has one, Daddy. My son Jeffrey is a musician and encourages a love of all things musical in all of his children.   Abigail is a dancer.   If Daddy will make noise that has a tune and/or a beat, Abby will dance.   I commented about that to my sister, who then asked if Jeffrey could send her a video of the baby dancing. ...

  Everyone who calls on the name of the will be saved.   Romans 10:13   Salvation is a funny thing.   It seems that it is often misunderstood. I know I’ve struggled in that area and sometimes still do. Although, praise God, that is rare these days.   When Jesus died on the Cross that was a once and for all sacrifice on his part. However, we need saving more than once. Now, I don’t mean saving in the sense of eternal salvation.   I mean saving from, as in one day I may need saving from fear. The next day or week it might be pride.   We have been saved by Jesus for eternal life. (John 3:16) but there is so much more to it. Look at John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” When the thief arrives at my door, attempting to steal my peace he does it in various ways.   The success of those tactics is pretty much up to me. Just this week I’ve had several o...

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9b-10 This morning I was reading about manna.   The message was describing the loving providence of God. It dealt with how our merciful God meets our needs. It was lovely but to be quite honest, my mind wandered elsewhere while I was reading it. When the Israelites were in the desert they were given manna and they were told to gather just enough for one day. (Exodus 16:4-5)   Of course the Israelites were human and some of them didn’t exactly obey the directive which led to some pretty nasty results. (Exodus 16: 20)   The manna they held onto for the future ended up filled with maggots. Gross! Thinking about that aspect of the story made me wonder why they didn’t trust God? He said he would provide food every day but they doubted…. Suddenly I became very uncomfortable with my thoughts as another Bible verse came to mind. “Therefore do...