Center In Christ

"No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it." 1 Cor 10:13 NRSV

My grandchildren have a flair for the dramatic.  At a vacation home we stayed at last week the book by Richard Carlson, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and it's all small stuff" was on the library shelf. When my eldest granddaughter left the room I placed it on her chair and then left the room myself. She got the point when she saw it.

Many of the young people that I know have a tendency to get excited over little stuff. Yes, I know that some of these things can be quite unsettling for someone who does not have the experience behind them to understand that when there is a crisis it will actually pass. In years to come they will be able to look back and see how the crises actually strengthened them; how these crises, big and small, helped them to grow.

It might be difficult to accomplish; but, we ought not let these crises disrupt our peace to the point that we are non-functional or allow our drama to infringe upon the lives of everyone around us. Do not let the crisis become the center of your life. If Christ remains at the center, he will center you.

Don't sweat the small stuff. With God it is all small stuff.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Fleeting Shadows

Lord, what are human beings that you care for them,
    mere mortals that you think of them?
They are like a breath;
    their days are like a fleeting shadow
Psalm 144:3-4 NIV

We are most blessed! Why, indeed, would the Lord care for us? We strut about like we are the center of the universe and nothing and no one else matters.

Yet, we matter to the Lord. His love and concern for us is so great that he was willing to die for us.

We fail to recognize that our lives are like fleeting shadows upon the earth. We are here one day and gone the next. Only the most prominent of men will be remembered centuries from now. In the end; by ourselves, we are of little consequence to the world. But, in Christ and with Christ we have hope for ourselves and for others.

Our lives in this world might be like fleeting shadows; but, all who abide in Christ receive eternal life with him. We are most blessed! The Lord, indeed, cares for us; enough to die that we might live.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Galatians 4:8-31 Bound or Free?

Galatians 4:8-31 NIV
We know that through Christ we are free men and women. We know that we are children of God and have been freed from bondage to those who by nature are not gods. Yet, something within us keeps driving us back into bondage to serve those false gods. Some of them might seem innocent enough. We are not always even aware when we have become obsessed with them; after all, we live in a world where false gods tend to take center stage. They are harmless in themselves, until they become something or someone that we cannot do without. Our lives become centered around these things. When we cannot do without something or some activity then, dear friends, know that you have sold yourself back into bondage to this false god. You are giving your time, your money, your life, to serve this false god.

We are children and heirs of the living God. Jesus freed us from bondage with his blood. Take hold of that freedom and turn away from all that would return you to bondage.

God's Peace - Pr. J