What is on your daily diet?

 

It seems that I have to constantly be  vigilant about what I eat and put in my mouth.   Many  television commercials encourages all of us to eat foods that are not very healthy for you with commercial after commercial about  foods often loaded with excessive calories and ingredients that are not very healthy. As someone said  many years ago, what we eat becomes what we are. 

I am becoming increasingly aware that it is important that I be concerned not just about what I put in my mouth, but also what I consume in my heart and mind through what I read, what I watch on television, and what I listen to on the radio or other mediums.     What is digested in our heart, mind, and soul is just as important as the things we put in our body.   Jesus speaks about that in Matthew 15.  

¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them….”      ¹⁶ “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. ¹⁷ “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

What is on in your daily diet?    Is your heart, mind, and soul consuming what brings you joy, peace, and  hope?   Does this daily diet lift you up or bring you down?   Maybe we need to spend more time not just counting your calories, but also considering the diet of our soul.  Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall  

 

PRAYER

    O Lord and God,  forgive me for my focus on the health of my body and for my lack of focus on my heart and soul.  Through your grace and power, help me to feed  regularly on the bread of heaven, Jesus Christ.   Amen. 

I Knew It All Along

 

Many of you will remember the late Tim Russert, former NBC News political reporter that died several years ago.    In his book, Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons,  he shares a story told by a woman whose Father was ill and was taken to the hospital.  The woman shares that she rushed to the hospital not just because of her concern for her Father, but because she felt that she needed to tell her Father that she loved him because she had never done that before.  When the woman arrived at the hospital, she found her father in a hallway because the Emergency Room was so busy.  With a combination of passion and urgency, she leaned over to embrace her father and said to him, “Oh, Dad, I love you. I love you so much and am sorry that I have never told you.”  As she embraced her father, he whispered in her ear, “That’s okay, Honey.  I knew it all along.” 

That Father is not the only one who knows he is loved by his child without being told.   Christ Jesus says the same thing in John 14: 23-24,  Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.  You see, love in Christ is not so much something we say as something we do.    Have a joy-filled week.-   Pastor Randy Wall 

• Previous Book:Go to Luke
• Previous Chapter : Go to John 13
• Expand: show the entire chapter ofJohn 14
• Next Chapter : Go to John 15
• Next Book:Go to Acts
• Listen to this passage : John 14
• View commentary related to this passage : John 14

 

PRAYER

Lord,  through the power of your Holy Spirit help our love for you to be seen and  not just said.   We pray these prayers in the name of the One whose name and nature is  love, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

Sign in the Yard

 

For sale.   I saw the sign go up in front of a home in our neighborhood.   I was not surprised to see the sign.  The owners were ready to move on.  Before I saw the for sale sign, I saw some signs that alerted me that  a home sale and move might be coming.  I had seen law enforcement cars and officers standing in front of the house conversing with those homeowners and their next door neighbor.   Local law enforcement officers were there talking to both homeowners not once or twice, but  several times.    Signs indicated that  there were issues between these two neighbors.  Shortly after the first visit of law enforcement to by neighbors  I saw a fence and “no trespassing” signs erected at one of these neighbors home along with bright lights shining around their house in the dark of night.  

I am sure there is a story about the issues between these neighbors.   I am certain there were things done and things said by all parties.   I know not the whole story, but I do know the end result-  a “for sale” sign and neighbors moving out.    There is another sign I need to tell you about.  “Thank you Jesus”, the sign says.   It is there in the yard of one of these neighbors.  The Jesus that sign talks about was asked about neighbors one day.   Luke 10 tells us about it:

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  ²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”  ²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[d]”  ²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”  ³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”  Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”       Perhaps we need to begin to “thank you Jesus” not just by posting a sign in our yard but in how we interact with the people right next door.  Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

 

PRAYER  -  Living and loving God, help us to love one another even as you love us.  Forgive us for the times we love you and others with our lips and not with our lives; through Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

Get Off the Bench!

 

Our local NFL team is the Carolina Panthers.   I have been to a few games thanks to the gift of free tickets.  During the last game I witnessed at Bank of America Stadium,  I got to thinking how that football game experience was a metaphor for disciples of Jesus Christ today.  There were 22 players on the football field at any given time, but there were thousands of persons who were spectators in the stands.   Sometimes it seems like we have just a few people who are busy doing the Lord’s work and a whole lot of people on our church membership rolls or even sitting in the pews who are spectators.   As the fans would cheer loudly when the Panthers did well and complain loudly when they did not, it often seems that there are a whole lot of folks who cheer or complain about the Lords work but too few people who are actually “giving their best to the master”.   I am reminded of these words of Jesus from Luke 10: 1-2 which say,  “ 1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two^[a] others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”   If the Carolina Panthers are to have a successful season, they need some good players on the team.  If we as the body of Christ are to be faithful to the commission the Lord has given us to make disciples and follow Jesus, we need more than spectators on the sidelines.  We need workers on God’s team.  If you have been one of the “players” on the body of Christ team, thanks be to God.  If you have been simply a spectator,  God wants you out of your seat and in the game.  Quit being a bench-warmer!-  Pastor Randy Wall 

 

PRAYER

            Lord God,  your Son Christ Jesus called disciples long ago and he calls disciples today.    Give me courage to answer that calling and awareness to see how  I might live out that calling day by day;  through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.