Spread Yourself Around

Posted on February 10, 2017 by jesustrek

ashes-scatteredI read about a company that has just started offering a unique service for those who have passed away and wish for their ashes to be spread across the earth. The cremated remains of the deceased are lifted by a balloon into the upper atmosphere. There the ashes are released into the jet stream, where they may float around for weeks. Eventually the remains fall to the earth, sometimes in the form of rain or snow.

That sounds like a good way to spread yourself around!

However, we don’t have to wait until we are dead to scatter ourselves about. Jesus says that we Christians are the salt of the earth. We don’t stay in the salt shaker! We scatter ourselves around, enriching people’s lives along the way and spreading the gospel message wherever we go.

So get out there and spread yourself around!

“You are the salt of the earth…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”—Mathew 5:13-16.

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Proper Thanks

Posted on February 9, 2017 by jesustrek

grapesYears ago, a wine company advertisement in Newsweek magazine read: “The earth gives us wonderful grapes. The grapes give us wonderful wine. The wine wins us lots of new friends. Thank you, earth.”

How easy it is to give credit and thanks to everything or everyone but the real source of all our blessings!

The fruit of the vine should remind us of the greatest blessing we have—salvation in Jesus Christ—and of the sacrifice it took for us to have such a blessing.

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”—2 Corinthians 9:15.

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Dead Skunk In the Middle of the Road

Posted on February 8, 2017 by jesustrek

skunkFor years I have noticed that there seem to be more dead skunks on the road this time of year. I had a suspicion that it had something to do with mating season. So I looked it up and, sure enough, February and March is the mating season for skunks. It appears that their desire to mate leads many skunks to their downfall. Their haste to find a companion causes them to venture into dangerous territory, resulting in a loss of life.

Unlike skunks, there is no mating season for humans. The desires that drive us to find a companion are a factor in our lives year round.

However, these desires—if not channeled properly—can lead to spiritual death. God has plainly spelled out his requirements for purity, but many people allow their sexual appetite to lead them into danger. Their frenetic chase for fulfillment knows no boundaries, and they pay the ultimate price.

“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”—Hebrews 13:4.

 

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Eluding Rescue

Posted on February 7, 2017 by jesustrek

stolen-car-chaseIn 1981, a Minnesota radio station reported a story about a stolen car in California. Police were staging an intense search for the vehicle and the driver, even to the point of placing announcements on local radio stations to contact the thief.

On the front seat of the stolen car sat a box of crackers that, unknown to the thief, were laced with poison. The car owner had intended to use the crackers as rat bait. Now the police and the owner of the VW Bug were more interested in apprehending the thief to save his life than to recover the car.

So often when we run from God, we feel it is to escape his punishment. But what we are actually doing is eluding his rescue.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”—Matthew 23:37.

 

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Sounds Encouraging

Posted on February 4, 2017 by jesustrek
Sandhill cranes in flight

Sandhill cranes in flight

In his book Wind and Fire, Bruce Larson points out some interesting facts about sandhill cranes:

These large birds, who fly great distances across continents, have three remarkable qualities. First, they rotate leadership. No one bird stays out in front all the time. Second, they choose leaders who can handle the turbulence. And then, all during the time one bird is leading, the rest are honking their affirmation. That’s not a bad model for the church. Certainly we need leaders who can handle turbulence and who are aware that leadership ought to be shared. But most of all, we need a church where we are all honking encouragement.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”—1 Thessalonians 5:11.

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Trading Places

Posted on February 2, 2017 by jesustrek

super-bowl-2017My cousin paid $3,000 for Super Bowl tickets several months ago, not realizing that his planned trip to the big game would conflict with his wedding day. Now he is scrambling to find someone to take his place. If anyone is interested, go to the First Baptist Church this Sunday evening at 6:30pm. She will be the one wearing white.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine…”—Proverbs 17:22.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”—Ephesians 5:25.

 

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Central Message

Posted on February 1, 2017 by jesustrek

bibleSomeone once noted that Psalm 118:8 is the verse that is located in the exact middle of the Bible. If this is indeed correct, perhaps it is important to examine this verse for the important message it contains—“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.”

How true! Our politicians are flawed human beings who, no matter how well-intentioned they might be, will make mistakes. No matter how much your family and friends love you, they are not perfect; they will sometimes disappoint you and will occasionally let you down. The only One you can trust completely and perfectly is the Lord.

This theme is found throughout the Bible. It is little wonder that a central message of Scripture is that we are to trust in the Lord.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”—Psalm 20:7.

 

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Turn Around

Posted on January 31, 2017 by jesustrek

man-on-a-bicycleA man in China wanted to make it back home in time for the Chinese New Year. He didn’t have any money, so he started off on his bicycle to make the long journey home. He couldn’t read a map, so he relied on directions someone gave him.

The man was stopped by police for being on a highway that was off-limits to bicycles. When they asked him where he was from and where he was going, they told him that he had travelled 310 miles in the wrong direction!

Kind police officers pooled their money and paid the man’s way home.

Sometimes we find ourselves far from our desired destination in life and headed in the wrong direction. God does whatever it takes to get our attention and send us in the right direction. And the best thing is this—He paid our way home through the sacrificial death of his Son Jesus!

“…But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”—Luke 13:5.

 

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Trying to Identify

Posted on January 30, 2017 by jesustrek

preacherMany preachers intentionally dress a certain way when they preach in order to enhance the message they are trying to get across. Some preachers make different decisions than others.

Some preachers change their mind over time about how they should dress on Sunday. For example, one of my favorite preachers used to wear a suit and tie every time he preached. A few years later, I saw him preach wearing black jeans and a black shirt that was not tucked in. That was quite a change! A few years after that, he was somewhere in between those two extremes—dressed in a nice pair of slacks with his shirt tucked in.

No matter how you dress, you always have to be thinking about how people will receive your message. You need to try to relate to the greatest number of people you are trying to impact.

“…I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”—1 Cor.9:22.

 

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Fruit Someday

Posted on January 27, 2017 by jesustrek
Raspberries

Raspberries

As I look out my back window, the snow flurries that have been coming down for most of the day are swirling around in the cold wind. On this dreary January afternoon, it seems like such a long time ago that I picked raspberries along the edge of the woods just 200 yards from my back door.

The raspberries come on in late May. I hustled last spring to pick as many as I could before they got too ripe or were eaten by birds. What we didn’t eat right away we put in the freezer for later use.

The Bible says that we are to produce spiritual fruit. Some days, or some seasons, don’t seem to be very productive. We pray, read the Bible, worship and serve, and it doesn’t seem like we have much to show for our efforts.

However, we know that God is faithful and that he will produce a harvest in his own timing.

So if you feel like it’s a cold snowy day spiritually, just remember that God promises to make everything new. Springtime may be closer than you expect!

“That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”—Psalm 1:3.

 

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