With A Thankful Heart

I've been pondering thankfulness for a while now. I would like to live my life with a thankful heart.

I heard something a few weeks ago that helped put some things into perspective for me, and helped me understand a little better what a life lived in gratitude is.

A brother in Christ in my Sunday School class said something that has stuck with me. I've been turning it over in my mind and really thinking about what he said.
It had an impact on me. It was a little thing, and I almost missed the depth and significance of it.

"Most of the world is a miserable place to live."

That's what he said. The more I think about it, the more thankful I am to God. There are countries where most of the population is starving to death, or live in perpetual violence. There are places where the government keeps people oppressed and living in constant fear for their lives. Places where being a Christian carries a death sentence.

Most of the world, indeed, is a miserable place to live. (John 15:18-22)

Here in The United States, we have freedom (for how long remains to be seen). We are free to worship our God without fear of the government. We have abundance here. The poorest among us, for the most part, are wealthy in comparison to those living in most of the world. I pray I never take this for granted and allow my heart to grow hard toward those who are in such need.

Father, thank You for giving me what I'll never fully understand. Please help me to always live with a thankful heart.

Two Cents

I've been thinking about the Apostle Paul. He spoke of a 'thorn in the flesh' that he was given in order to keep him humble (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

I've heard a lot of speculation about what this 'thorn' may have been. Some say that it was some sort of health issue. After all, Dr. Luke traveled with him. I've also heard that it was because he was nearly blind from his encounter with King Jesus on the road to Damascus. After all, no one comes away from an encounter like that unscathed.

I was thinking about what this 'thorn' could have been. Not that it is all that important in the big picture. But while everyone is speculating, I may as well throw in my two cents.

When the Apostle Paul said anything about himself, the one negative thing that he talked about the most was his sin. (Romans 7:19-24) I believe the 'thorn' he talked about was his sin. He wanted to be free of his sin once and for all. (2 Corinthians 12:8 and Philippians 1:21-26)

God said that His grace is sufficient. That His power is made perfect in weakness. Our sin is our greatest weakness, it is where God's grace is most abundant (Romans 5:20-21).

Paul had an encounter with Christ Jesus that very few (only a handful of men in all of history) had ever experienced. An encounter that was so significant that it left Paul with a passionate hatred for his sin. An absolute disdain for his own flesh. He, through his encounter with the King of Glory, was able to see sin the same way God does, and it sickened him.

Thank you, Father, for Your grace. That it is sufficient. Help me come to the point of humility that I am able to view my sin as You do.

Artsy Fartsy

God's love for us is so much bigger than anything we can comprehend. He poured out His wrath and judgement on His very own Son so that the relationship He so longed for could be restored.

God's Word is so rich with the poetry of His love for us. We are His living poetry (Ephesians 2:10). When we allow the Holy Spirit to take the helm of our imagination, such beautiful art spills out (Exodus 31:1-5).

Here are a couple of poems I'd like to share with you.


God’s Robe
(Matthew 27:51 and Isaiah 53)

He knew suffering
He knew affliction
He came to break our sin addiction
He is the beloved Son
He is the despised One
He took on my sin and put on my pride
He is the Advocate spoken of by Job
He poured Himself out and then He died
God limped away and tore His robe


Lamb of God, Lion of Judah
(Luke 22:39-44, John 28:30, Revelation 5)

In the garden begging and bleeding
The Lamb of God awaits the beating
In the cold night air as demons were leaping
His friend wandered shivering and weeping (Luke 22:54-62)
On the cross broken and bent
The Word accomplished the reason for which He was sent (Isaiah 55:11)
In a vision filled with despair an elder tells John to look
The Lion of Judah steps forward and takes hold of the book

Thinking About Stuff

I watched a movie today. It had aliens and car chases and space ships. It was a good one. The main characters in it espoused the evolutionist/atheistic world view. Christians were (of course) portrayed as irrational superstitious bumpkins.

That got the wheels in my head turning.

Let's say, for argument sake, that the big bang theory is true. That, somehow, these gases and materials started moving without any outside cause. They collided and it caused this huge, chaotic explosion. Out of this chaos, somehow, order. Okay.

Then, through a series of (for lack of a better term) miraculous events, life sparked in this primordial muck. Then, without any outside guidance or intelligence, this life, over billions of years formed into countless forms of life. Fliers, swimmers, eight legs, six legs, four legs, two legs. Wow. Okay.

If we are the result of an accident billions of years ago, I have a few questions. Where did we get the ability to reason? Why did other creatures not develop that ability? From where did the desire to know our origin come? Why did orderly, civil societies form? How did such order come from such chaos with absolutely no guidance whatsoever?

Just wondering.

Does this make me an irrational superstitious bumpkin?

The Source

Who, exactly, is Jesus Christ? Why is His name the source of such controversy? Why do governments forbid the use of His name? Why are we told not to pray in His name? Why does the name of Jesus Christ evoke such a strong response?

Jesus Christ is the The Way, The Truth and The Life. (John 14:6)

The Way: There is no other way to Heaven apart from Christ Jesus. He is the only way. That is a very controversial thing to say these days. Other religions teach that there are many ways. Some say that it is unreasonable to teach that there is only one way, and a narrow way at that. But this is what Jesus and the Apostles teach. (John 14:6 and Acts 4:12)

The Truth: I think we, as human beings, naturally react with hostility toward truth. Truth brings to light things that we don't want to acknowledge and things we don't want seen. Who among us wants anyone else to be able to hear the deepest thoughts or able to peer into the darkest recesses of the mind? The light of truth is something that we naturally recoil from. John the Baptist and a Christian named Stephen are two people who come to mind when I think of how people react to truth. (Mark 6:17-28 and Acts 7:54-58)

The Life: John 1:1-4. Jesus is life. We have heart beats and breath in and out because of Him. He is the source of all life, and all life is sustained in Him (Colossians 1:15-17). In Him is eternal life (John 3:16).

So, who is Jesus? He is the Source. He is the Source of all meaning, all knowledge, all of existence. In Christ Jesus alone is our salvation.

God is AWESOME!