by George | Dec 31, 2020 | Community News, Devotional, Newsletter
Paul Finished Well
“Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.”
Acts 28:30-31
Who are you no more likely to follow, the one who tells you what to do, but doesn’t do it himself, OR someone who tells you what to do, and does it himself?
I think we would all pick the latter. We like people who “walk the walk” and don’t have much regard for someone who merely “talks the talk.”
Paul “practiced what he preached.”
He instructed early believers how to run this Christian race. It’s not a sprint, it’s a long distance race.
Paul finished the race well, but it didn’t happen by accident. He ran well, and showed us how to run well. Running well has several requirements.
- It requires discipline.
“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
I Corinthians 9:24-27
- It requires focus. You have to keep looking ahead, not behind.
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14
- It requires a strong finish. Good long-distance runners make a final “kick” or sprint in the end of the race. At the end of his race, Paul wasn’t jogging. He was sprinting. He kept teaching and preaching with confidence until the end. “Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.” Acts 28:30-31 .
If we keep those principles in mind, one day we will be likely to say what Paul said at the end of his race:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
II Timothy 4:7
Finish well!
by George | Dec 25, 2020 | Community News, Devotional, Newsletter
Christ Really Came!
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14
It’s Christmas time again. Somehow those words don’t excite us this year. 2020 has been a rough year.
The late Tom Petty seemed to echo our sentiments in “Christmas All Over Again.”
“Well it’s Christmas time again
Decorations pearl hung by the fire
Everybody’s singing
All the bells are ringing out
And it’s Christmas all over again, yeah again.”
The next refrain seems relevant for the 2020 social distancing thing:
“Long distance relatives
Haven’t seen them in a long, long time
Yeah, I kind of missed them
I just don’t want to kiss them, no
And it’s Christmas all over again, yeah again.”
In spite of our feelings, and the inevitable stress and hurriedness of the holiday season… One central truth remains:
Christ, the Son of God, really did come to this Earth!
Read today’s verse again, this time with feeling.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:14
If we could hear John say these words, we would hear an exuberance in his voice! John not only states that Jesus came, he also stated that He dwelt among us. He lived here, and became like us, only without sin.
John said “…we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John saw Christ’s glory!
What about us? We’ve read this verse so many times that the significance of it has diminished for us.
Let’s try to keep out the distractions of the season for a moment. Read over the verse slowly and carefully as though we have never read these words before… Read it several times… Meditate on it…
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”
Christ really came!
Merry CHRISTmas!!!
by George | Dec 3, 2020 | Community News, Devotional, Newsletter
A Final Request
“And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.””
II Kings 13:19
Elisha is dying. His time is short. Joash the king came to visit him.
“Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”
II Kings 13:14
Joash is expressing his sorrow over the fact that Elisha, a mighty prophet of God, is sick and is about to die.
Elisha doesn’t focus on himself. He had not retired from being a prophet. Elisha knew that Syria was an enemy of Israel. He instructs Joash:
“And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. And he said, “Open the east window”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The arrow of the LORD’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them. ” Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped.”
II Kings 13:15-18
Why did Joash stop after only shooting 3 arrows? David Jeremiah suggests that Joash was not “all in” as far as his commitment is concerned.
You would think that he would have jumped at the chance to see his enemy finally defeated.
Elisha was furious. He told the king that he would only get to strike the enemy 3 times.
Elisha was dying.
This was Elisha’s final request of the king. His dying wish, if you will.
I’ve been a hospice Chaplain for many years.
In hospice, we minister to patients who are dying.
Whatever you do in life, think about this.
Do I use the “Joash” approach, or do I give my all to make their quality of life as good as I can? I may not be able to fulfill all their requests, but I can do something.
