And He Will Reign Forever and Ever…!

“The Kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His anointed, and He will reign forever.” Revelation 11:15

(see Scriptural references below for support of statements throughout this Bread)

If God is good, and God is real…why then is their so much pain and suffering, so much frustration, despair, injustice, and, discord?

Let’s return to the basics and remember because God is Love, He sought a loving relationship and created mankind. Love is a choice. So, He had to give us the ability to choose loving Him. We chose not to. We continue to always have the choice to relate to our Loving Father or take matters into our own hands. As people choose to rely on their own motivations and thinking for direction, bad things result: conflicts occur, disease develops, etc. Nevertheless, God is ever-present and available. His Kingdom is indeed among us and ever-available for those who so choose. He has come in person (Christ) demonstrating His power to overcome the destructive force of this life. He has promised to come again and wipe out all misery and injustice. In the interim, we continue to be free to choose. He tells us we are His vessels. It is His responsibility to come again and overpower evil. It is our responsibility to allow Him to express through us His power of Love. We do that through clear commitments of faith and acts of Christ-centered Love. It’s easy for us to confuse the means with the ends. All the world may not be pleasant right now, but it will be. As Handel so eloquently wrote it to music, “And He shall reign for ever and ever! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!”
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God is Love (I John 4:8)
God made mankind is His own image of Love and Goodness (Genesis 1:26)
Everything from God is good (Genesis 1:31)
The power of Evil negotiates with us and we can choose to go that direction (Genesis 3:1,7,11)
Christ rose from the dead (Matthew 28:1-6, 9-10)
Christ Will Come Again ( Matthew 24:15-44)
Eternal goodness to those who love God (I Corinthians 2:9; II Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1-8)

Blessings Always in All Ways,

Steve
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Dependence and Freedom

“Live as free persons, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil; but live as servants of God.” (I Peter 2:25) (RSV)

As our family watched the fireworks impressively flaring over the St. John’s river in downtown Jacksonville, Florida this 4th of July, I couldn’t help thinking of the mystery of being dependent upon God and yet being set free by God (Christ). Both dependency and freedom are data points of the Christian faith. We must avoid pitfalls on either side.

We can slip into the trap of being impressed with our own intelligence and skills, or possibly, the luck of circumstances, and become more and more reliant upon ourselves for happiness and fulfillment. We can just as easily take the irresponsible attitude of “whatever will be, will be”…“I’ll just exist and God will take care of everything without my doing a thing.”

God has demonstrated throughout history, and still demonstrates, His sovereignty as Lord and Master of the universe. At the same time, He chose to become man in Christ, who in turn passed on His mission through The Church (the Body of Christ in the world). Thus, through the prophets of old, through Christ, and through the Church…God shows His desire to work through people rather than solo. For those who accept Him into their lives, He set us free. He sets us free from ourselves and sin. He sets us free for a purpose: to relate to Him and allow Him to express His Will through us. When we start thinking it all depends on us, we miss the power and mystery of God’s activity in our life. When we take the laissez-faire approach that we have no responsibility to do anything, we also miss the power and mystery of God’s activity in our life. It’s a key reality of the Christian faith: accepting our freedom and dependence.

Blessings Always in All Ways,

Steve
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When the Bible is Wrong

“Woe to you, experts in religious law…for you hide the key to knowledge from the people. You won’t enter the Kingdom yourself and you prevent others from entering.” (Luke 11:52) (New Living Translation)

“I know all things that you do: you are neither hot nor cold, since you are lukewarm I will spit you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:15)(The New Living Translation)

The Bible is wrong…when it directs me to do something I don’t want to do.
The Bible is wrong…when it makes me uncomfortable.
The Bible is wrong…when it opens my eyes to my selfishness.
The Bible is wrong…when it doesn’t say what I want it to say.

Jesus was upset with people who twist the Scriptures: He saw through them. He knew they were intentionally misreading the Scriptures. They were using the Scriptures to justify their own wishes. We can do it, too. We can selectively read the Scriptures to support our personal biases, choosing not to honestly investigate what the Holy Spirit has to say objectively. We can do it intentionally, we can do it innocently. Either way, the result is the same. This maneuver may soothe our conscience, but it doesn’t change reality. Then we don’t understand why life isn’t fulfilling. Then we don’t understand why we aren’t at peace.

It’s His way or no way. You decide, but games won’t change the facts.

Blessings Always in All Ways,

Steve
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Believing is Seeing

“For Thou art great and doest wondrous things, Thou alone art God.” Psalm 86:10

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, Who alone does wondrous things!” Psalm 72:18

I still can hear Oral Roberts, the well-known evangelist from Oklahoma, saying, “Expect a miracle!” each time he signed off on his television show. I remember getting a little tired of hearing that constantly. As I’ve grown in life and spiritually, I don’t snicker at him anymore. It’s so true.

I reflect back to the disciples, what a motley crew they were! They wandered around Galilee and Jerusalem with Jesus for a few years witnessing His miraculous works and literally, miracles. Then, “when the going gets tough, the tough got going”---they deserted Him, only in three days to once again marvel at His Resurrection Power over this world. Then, a few days later, as they watch Him ascend into Heaven…all they can do is stand in awe, amazed…again.

Any serious Christian cannot help but wonder about the disciples…but we’d be better to wonder with them. I’ve come to appreciate how God does indeed bring blessing after blessing into the life of a believer everyday….every moment of every day. These days when I go to bed at night, I thank God for the good that He will bring me tomorrow. Each morning, I thank Him in advance for the good awaiting me that day. And, you know what? He really does make it happen! But anyone who doesn’t expect it…who doesn’t believe He really does this…s/he will not recognize when the goodness comes right before their eyes. “He who has ears to hear let him hear” (Matthew 15), “Blessed are your eyes, for they see…” (Matthew 13:16).

Doubting Thomas kind da’ had it backwards: seeing isn’t believing…believing is seeing!

Blessings Always in All Ways,
Steve
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A Whale of a Testimony

"Share each other's troubles and problems, in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone else who is in need, you are only fooling yourself." (Galatians 6:2-3) (The New Living Translation)

"I command you to love one another in the same way that I have loved you....I command you to love one another." (John 15:12, 17)(The New Living Translation)


My wife and I are cautious about internet "forwards." However, a few weeks ago she couldn't resist sending one to me. It touched me, and I shared it with a few others. One of our co-workers replied with a meaningful comment of his own. He's been gracious enough to authorize my sharing it with you. Please take a moment to reflect on his words and read the brief news event below regarding this humpback whale.

Steve

Thanks for forwarding this on to me. I read this a couple of times and have thought about it on a couple of different levels. I remember a conversation I had with a great friend about the phrase often used when talking about folks that have been successful in business or their profession – “He/She is a self made man/woman.” I don’t believe that for a minute. There is always someone – or several someones – that are there to get you “untangled” and pointed in the right direction – a mentor. That has been true for me and Kay and our business – folks always there to help us get “untangled” and to help us to succeed. And to me that is the “success” I am proudest of – my relationship with our Lord.

God Bless You,
Charles

The Whale

If you read the front page story of the SF Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines.

She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farralone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help.

Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her ... a very dangerous proposition.

One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer.

They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her.

When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed gently around-she thanked them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.

The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate ... to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you.

And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.

I pass this on to you, my friend, in the same spirit.