Tag Archives: Jesu

Nevertheless

Foundation. That’s the word from which I begin this morning.

But what is a foundation anyway? Here is a smidgen definition from my online dictionary:

foundation [faʊnˈdeɪʃən] n
1. that on which something is founded; basis
2. (Miscellaneous Technologies / Building) (often plural) a construction below the ground that distributes the load of a building, wall, etc.
3. the base on which something stands
4. the act of founding or establishing or the state of being founded or established

via foundation – definition of foundation by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia..

And when you key in the word foundation at BibleGateway dot-com using the King James Translation 84 references appear.

Let me share one with you. Perhaps we can carry it with us today as we ‘build’ this day.

19 Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, stamped with these words:
“The Lord knows his own,”
and,
“Let everyone who claims he belongs to the Lord
stand apart from wrongdoing.”
20 In a large house there are dishes and pots not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. That is, some are meant for honorable use and some for dishonorable. 21 If a person keeps himself free of defilement by the latter, he will be a vessel set aside for honorable use by the master of the house and ready for every kind of good work.

via 2 Timothy 2 KJV;CJB – Thou therefore, my son, be strong in – Bible Gateway.

Nevertheless.

I like that word. It tells me NEVERTHELESS my structure right now: a leak in my roof, some holes in the wall, or bare floors; our FOUNDATION in JESUS THE CHRIST is sure and He will STAND and in Him so will we!

ABBA, thank You for speaking the word foundation to me this morning and thank You for where you are leading with it. Thank You for this particular message this morning. Nevertheless our situations in YOU we are secure. In YOU we are safe. In YOU we will build and we will live. Dawn comes to mind this morning. You know the reason. You know the need and I pray she will know for sure that YOU are a firm foundation even when the world is shifting. Leslie. YESHUA, I pray You will heal her. And others. Many others, ABBA. You see their faces, I lift them to You for help. Struggles of many sorts and oppositions. Weaknesses. Illness and diseases. In all these things I pray we will know You, ABBA, are our FIRM FOUNDATION.
HOLY SPIRIT, strengthen every Reader who comes to this page today; build up our love and trust that we will not dishonor Your Name. amen and amen.

 

An Apple Story

While reading some email this morning, this was in my email inbox. I do not know its origin, author or if it is an actually happening but it certainty contains Truth. I hope it blesses you.

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night’s dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly-missed boarding…

ALL BUT ONE!!! He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor.

He was glad he did. The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping and no one to care for her plight.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, “Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?” She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, “I hope we didn’t spoil your day too badly.”

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, “Mister….” He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, “Are you Jesus?”

He stopped in mid-stride … and he wondered. He gently went back and said, “No, I am nothing like Jesus – He is good, kind, caring, loving, and would never have bumped into your display in the first place.

“The girl gently nodded: “I only asked because I prayed for Jesus to help me gather the apples. He sent you to help me, so you are like Him – only He knows who will do His will. Thank you for hearing His call, Mister.”

Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: “Are you Jesus?”

Do people mistake you for Jesus?

That’s our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace.

If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It’s actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.

You are the apple of His eye even though you, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked up you and me on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.

Sometimes we just take things for granted, when we really need to be sharing what we know….Thanks.

“Being happy doesn’t mean everything is perfect. It means you’ve decided to see beyond the imperfections.”

It’s a rainy, windy Thursday morning here in Lower Alabama. Pray for folks driving in this and pray for Terri and her family – surgery this afternoon.

Extra

Something extra for today from You Version Devotionals. When I read this one this morning I became eager to share it with you.

Galatians 4:4-5

Devotional

ROMAN ROADS AND A GREEK BIBLE

Nehemiah appears to have outlived Malachi. Thus, when Nehemiah died at nearly seventy years of age, the last chapter closed on the Old Testament. Four hundred years of silence followed, to be broken by the preaching of John the Baptist. Between the last chapter of Malachi and Matthew 1, dramatic world events occurred. The seat of government passed from Asia to Europe. During this time, Palestine experienced six different systems of rule. When Jesus was born, the Roman-appointed Herods were coldly and cruelly terrorizing Israel.

After Nehemiah’s death, Persia fell to Alexander the Great, and then came the Egyptian Ptolemies. Later, the Syrian kings crushed the Jews, bringing about the bloody revolt of the Maccabees. Finally, the iron hand of Rome gripped the throat of war-weary Palestine. Never at the mercy of world powers, God used each government to prepare the world for Christ’s birth. In the fullness of time, Christ was born. Greek influence had brought about the first translation of the Old Testament which was used by Jesus in the synagogue. Then Rome, with her penchant for building roads, made the spreading of the Gospel possible for the early church. The most famous of these highways is still used–the Appian Way. Over its 350 miles, Paul traveled to spread the Gospel.

Into a waiting world, Christ came–and changed the course of human history. Prophets had preached that the Messiah would come, and He was not a day late. To fulfill prophecy, Christ could have appeared at no other time in history. From all this, we learn that believers are never at the mercy of the world. God is still in control, and His answer to our prayers is not a day late.

via Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with God | YouVersion.com.

Read that last paragraph again and even again; enough that it makes your eyes twinkle with expectation and a glowing confidence that GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL!

A surpassing Thursday, my Friends!