Proverbs 1: 8-19: “If sinners entice you, do not consent . . . for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.”
God’s compassion stands in stark contrast to the callousness of those who brutalize the innocent. Unlike them, Jesus does not seek to shed our blood; He gave His own on the cross of Calvary.
I Peter 2:24: Jesus “bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes y
ou were healed.”
In an article in Christianity Today (October 2019), Gerald Sittser wrote about the early church and the Christians who embraced a new story. “The story of Jesus opened their eyes to see history not as a narrative of the empire’s achievements—and atrocities—but as a narrative of God’s redemptive work in the world, which often occurs in quiet and mysterious ways. For them, Bethlehem and Golgotha occupied center stage, not the Roman court.”
I encourage to pause today and reflect on the babe of Bethlehem who died with His innocence intact on the cross at Golgotha. His life was a message of redemption, and His death was the sacrifice that redeemed us.
Among the last few words that He spoke, His concern was for those who persecuted Him, and “Forgive them. . .” was a last request.
Make it your mission today to give life to His dying words and “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32).”
I’ve never heard the Apostle Paul described as a Master Gardener, but he was an authority on sowing and reaping, and He spoke about it in the 6th chapter of Galatians.
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.“
These verses may have been the words that inspired St. Basil to say: “He who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.”
The importance of sowing seeds of kindness is found in a comment made by Leo Buscaglia: “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
I encourage you to make a difference in the life of someone today by giving them the gift of kindness. It doesn’t take much effort to open a door, to share a smile, to speak an encouraging word, or to say a prayer.
Like Mother Teresa said: “Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.”
Kindness is a form of communication that is not limited by ethnic or social barriers. It is a language that even the deaf can hear and the blind can see.
What is it that you first think of when you hear the word Velcro? Is it the stick-to-itiveness quality of this 1941 George de Mestral invention?
Mestral was perturbed by the nasty burrs that had lodged themselves into his wool pants after a day of hunting in the woods. After examining the burrs through a magnifying glass, Mestral was fascinated by what he saw. He discovered that each burr had thousands of tiny little hooks that had latched onto the wool fabric of his pants.
He was so impressed by this pest from nature that he developed a process to mimic the tenacity of the burrs, so he invented a system of nylon hooks and loops and called his product Velcro.
Within the pages of the New Testament, we find the living breathing version of Velcro. As a Christian, Stephen was a pest that Saul could not shake. Because of Stephen’s faithful tenacity, Saul oversaw his stoning and ultimate death.
Even after Stephen was martyred, he was still a nuisance to Saul. Like Velcro, Saul could not shake the memory of Stephen’s death nor could he forget his last words –words of faith and grace.
Stephen’s death and the Damascus road experience led to the conversion of Saul. The former enemy of the Cross changed his name to Paul and became an avid evangelist for the Lord.
What is the Velcro moment that changed your life?
I don’t have any hills in my yard, but I do hear the sound of music. My feathered friends have begun their annual return, and they’re filling the air with their joyful melodies. As they arrive, they’re met by the faithful chickadees and nuthatches who have fed on sunflower seeds and weathered the winter.
If, as some say, the chickadees and nuthatches are deficient in color, they are more than proficient in conversation. The chickadee is reported to have a vocabulary of around 50 distinct sounds including phrases, like “danger!” “feed me!” or “I’m single!”
As the chickadee is busy chattering, the nuthatch listens intently; verifies the message; and, if necessary, acts as a watchman on the wall and sounds a predator is present alarm. While the nuthatch is no Chicken Little, Eric Greene, an ecologist at the University of Montana, lightheartedly says the bird will “retweet” valid warnings to his neighbors.
The importance of conversations cannot be overstated, and ours ought to be more than idle chatter. Jesus said a person will be either justified or condemned by the words they speak (Matthew 12:27). Our conversation should be more than great swelling words of emptiness (2 Peter 2:18), or persuasive words of deception (Colossians 2:8).
How can we fine-tune our vocabulary, so our conversation is pleasing to God? We can start with a prayer of David: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer (Psalm 19:14).
Since I live in the land of bluestem grass, it’s a common sight to see cattle grazing in pastures. More than a few steers are apt to stick their heads through a barbed wire fence to eat the grass that’s almost beyond their reach. This tendency gave birth to the cliché: The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.
The old cliché is the life philosophy of some people. They’re not content with what God has given them, so they keep searching for that elusive something that is just beyond their grasp.
God is not a God of mass production, and you were not manufactured on a soulless assembly line by a heartless God. You are a unique creation; the handiwork of God; designed for a specific purpose; and, blessed with the appropriate amount of grace to accomplish the mission to which you’ve been called.
You are the apple of God’s eyes, and He has blessed you with gifts that “vary depending on the grace poured out on each of us, so it’s important to exercise the gifts you’ve been given (Romans 12:6).”
As you look forward to the week ahead, frame it within the truth of 2 Corinthians 9:8: “God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that, in all things and at all times, having all you need, you may overflow in every kind of good work.”
Have you ever had that feeling that you’re being watched? It may be more than just a feeling. Comparitech, a company that is known for its, Thousands of hours of in-depth tech research, has discovered, the world’s most-surveilled cities.
After studying the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, the researchers at Comparitech have discovered the top 20 cities in the world that are the most surveilled. Of the cities that made the top 10, all of them were in China except London and Atlanta.
The proponents of CCTV cameras say they are excellent tools to help prevent crime and to monitor the flow of traffic. There are many, however, who see a sinister use of this technology. Specifically, the detractors are concerned with the development of facial recognition and the prying eyes of big government: Will the use of this technology make for a safer society at the expense of individual liberties?
While big government might abuse and misuse this technology, it’s much different with our Big God. Solomon said the eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good (Proverbs 15:3, NKJV).
When God sees the evil and the good in the world, we need to remember that His justice is balanced by His love, mercy, and grace. In Genesis 6:5, the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually; however, three verse later, we see that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
What does God see when He observes your life? May it be a life of justice, kindness, and humility (Micah 6:8).
Two words changed the lives of two men, and they gave birth to a spiritual revolution that changed the world. The two words were spoken by Jesus when He called out to Peter and Andrew, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men (Matthew 4:19).”
The best way to follow Jesus is to walk in His footsteps. To make sure you’re on the right path, you can ask yourself a few questions:
Before I was tall enough to see over the corn stalks and heads of milo that filled the fields where my dad would take me hunting, I never got lost; all I had to do was step where Dad stepped. The same is true as you journey through life, simply walk like Jesus.
The apostle Peter said, Jesus suffered for us and left us His example so that we could follow in His steps (I Peter 2:21).
I encourage you to follow Jesus, walk in His steps, and use the words of Psalm 119:133 as a prayer: Father, Direct my steps by your word!
It is 4:19, and I’ve finished the first part of my morning routine: I just swallowed the last drop of my first cup of coffee.
The next item on my morning ritual will be the couple of minutes I spend facing a mirror to examine my wrinkled mug, to apply some shaving cream, and to wield the razor as I shave my whiskers.
When I check the stubble on my face, I often think of Paul’s statement to the church at Corinth: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).”
When you think about it, isn’t life one examination station after another?
Do you take any time during the day for a spiritual examination? The Psalmist said: “I thought about my ways, and turned my feet to Your testimonies (Psalm 119:59).” Are there times when you use God’s Word to iron out the wrinkles of your life?
The methodology of the Psalms was the same message espoused by James (1:21-25):
Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the
When you use the “perfect law of liberty” as a mirror to examine your life, what do you see?
Let me share a favorite verse that I use as a mirror: Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).
When you look into God’s Word, what do you see?
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