Joy in the Journey

  Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:44-45 Seeing people as a means to an end sounds just awful, doesn’t it? A few things have happened in the last few weeks that have made me wonder how many of my relationships are good and solid, containing loyalty and truth and how many are just a case of me being the means to an end for someone else.           As usual this led me to examine my own heart. Who are the people in my life that I see as a means to an end. I was feeling okay about it; admittedly there are a couple of people who seem to serve more of a purpose than with whom I have an actual relationship. I prayed about that and asked God to help to know what I might need to do in response to that information. His re...

  “I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?” John 5:41-44 If you are a parent of a child over the age of four, then it is my guess that you’ve had this experience.   Your child tells you all about his calamity. You offer sage wisdom and sound advice. You offer it in the face of explanations and sputtering that give a pretty fair indication that no one is hearing your words except you. Now, flash forward a few days, a week or maybe a bit more, to the next phase of the conversation when your darling comes to you so excited because he now has a solution to his problem. He’s garnered said solution by listening to the learned perception of; choose one or more of...

  "For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." James 4:14-15 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 There is an event that happens in my life almost every year. Some years I look forward to it and other years it just feels like too much effort. I've prayed to be able to modify it, have a tad more control over it but for the past few years, it's gotten completely out of my control. This year, as in years past, as the date loomed closer I felt myself getting anxious, trying to find tactful ways to say, "Folks, this just doesn't work for ...

  If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. Romans 14:8 For the past several years I have worked in a school where the principal made all of the decisions, somewhat arbitraily. At the end of each school year teachers and staff are shuffled around without much thought to how that might impact those individuals. Bad as it was for the teachers, it worse for those of us in paraprofessional positions. Often we would not know where we would be placed until the day we returned for the new school year. Several of us have commented over the years that it makes us feel like furniture. We can be picked up and moved without comment, question or thought. It's not a nice feeling. It would seem that each of us should have some say in where we work.           That principal is retiring this year and as it occured to me that her replacement might not treat us like h...

  Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? Matthew 7:3 Recently I spent time with two women who are very dear to me. I want for both of them, what I want for everyone I know, for them to know and feel the love of Jesus. Both women are “Christians.” They both attend church. One of them is extremely active and committed to her church. The other one vacillates between a couple of different churches but she also is involved with in a Bible study. After spending a few days with the two of them together I was given each one's perspective on the other. Both of them said basically the same thing. Each women is worried about the others lack of peace and contentment. “She seems so angry.” Was spoken by both of them about the other. While I absolutely agree that each one is angry and peace is lacking in both lives, in very different ways, what I found amusing was that they could see it in each o...

Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13 The other day I read an account of a woman who struggled with forgiveness. One day while volunteering at church she saw a woman sobbing in the back row. By the author's words the woman had “badly mistreated” her. Still she felt compelled to reach out. She did and found that her enemy had a good reason to be heartbroken. She found forgiveness in her heart and the two became friends. That's so nice. Doesn't it sound just like a thing God would do? Sure it does. I believe, however that God often does things a bit differently. Through the last few years I've had opportunities to reach out to people who have been less than kind to me. I've been called upon by people who have treated me as less than but suddenly when they need help or prayer, find that I have value after all. I've reacted differently in each situation. At times, I have willingly responded to what I see as God's call on my life. Other ti...

  “ You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 25:43-44 Over the past couple of months I've made a new friend at work. This is an odd friendship as it is not with a co-worker but with a child. She's a fifth grade student at my school who I met while doing my student dismissal duty. At first glance we may not seem the most likely of friends, an older woman and a young girl and then it gets odder. The older woman in the scenario, me, tends to be pretty straight forward about what she believes, that Jesus Christ is Lord and I wear cross earrings or pendants fairly often. The young girl also wears a symbol of what she believes, on her head, covering her head. Got the visual now? Our friendship started one day when she asked me if I like football and if so, what team? I'm a Redskins fan and she is a Bengals fan. Better represented, I'm...