Temporarily
Imagine if you will (if you can remember Rod Sterling's voice at the opening of the Twilight Zone.. you're old... but that's okay)... cause it will help set the scene...
... having to work with a constant hammer all around you, with the sound of heavy machinery moving forward and back - the incessant bleating of their back-up alarms...
and you'd be here at New Hope this morning.
We're no strangers to noise here, as the Armed Services provide jet and helicopter noise by the ton and we even have days when explosions as bombs are tested rock the homes around here. But all morning the noise has been hard to bear.
Across the street, they are building a child care center. From what I am told, it will be a wonderful place for kids, with many advantages for them. So I guess I'll just have to endure the noise for a little while. It's only temporary.
In our readings for the 40 Days of Purpose, we come to Day 6 today - LIFE IS A TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT.
It struck me as I sat here and shook, that so much of the "noise" we worry, fret, gripe and complain over is temporary too. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the problems you have aren't real, but if they aren't about your eternal destiny, or that of another - they are temporary. And they will be vanquished.
Rev. 21:3-4 (Msg)
I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God. [4] He'll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone."
Can you imagine?
Death - gone!
Tears - of want, of worry, of fear - Gone!
Pain - from loneliness, from heartache, from lack, from physical ailments
GONE! Just as Jesus said they would be.
John 16:33 (Msg)
In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world."
One day we'll see those troubles disappear, and our lives become what we've always dreamed of. Until then, practice following Jesus, and don't get to attached to this world, or too aggravated by the "noise." We are only here temporarily.
Grace!
David Wilson
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
Friday, April 30, 2004
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Standing Out
Do you have a "life verse"? Maybe some explanation is in order. A "Life verse" would be that snippet of Scripture that might speak to you about God's care, or frame your life. In the latter, you could even use it to say, "this is who I am", like an email signature could do.
Over the years I've been able to hear many people recite their life verses to me, and I enjoy learning about how God uses His Word with different people.
Last night, we watched a video produced by the Voice of the Martyrs (www.persecution.com) that let people hear and see from those who have suffered for their faith - their continuing and steadfast faith - in Jesus Christ. All sorts of questions rushed to me - "How could anyone do that to another?" "How could anyone endure...?"
And into my head popped a passage of Scripture that talks about people like that:
Hebrews 11:13-16 (Msg)
Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing.
How did they do it?
They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world.
People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home... But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country.
You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.
In a world where life is cheap, they raise the value of it - by living it not for today, or tomorrow, but for eternity. In the days when the book of Hebrews was written, the days before, and the days after, people who understand that this earth is not our home stand out.
How? They make their choices on what they value in light of what really is lasting.
Where do you stand on that?
Grace!
David Wilson
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
Do you have a "life verse"? Maybe some explanation is in order. A "Life verse" would be that snippet of Scripture that might speak to you about God's care, or frame your life. In the latter, you could even use it to say, "this is who I am", like an email signature could do.
Over the years I've been able to hear many people recite their life verses to me, and I enjoy learning about how God uses His Word with different people.
Last night, we watched a video produced by the Voice of the Martyrs (www.persecution.com) that let people hear and see from those who have suffered for their faith - their continuing and steadfast faith - in Jesus Christ. All sorts of questions rushed to me - "How could anyone do that to another?" "How could anyone endure...?"
And into my head popped a passage of Scripture that talks about people like that:
Hebrews 11:13-16 (Msg)
Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing.
How did they do it?
They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world.
People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home... But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country.
You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.
In a world where life is cheap, they raise the value of it - by living it not for today, or tomorrow, but for eternity. In the days when the book of Hebrews was written, the days before, and the days after, people who understand that this earth is not our home stand out.
How? They make their choices on what they value in light of what really is lasting.
Where do you stand on that?
Grace!
David Wilson
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Living Among the Immortals
There are no ordinary people.
You have never talked to a mere mortal.
Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of the kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously--no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.
And our love must be real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinners--no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. (quote from The Weight of Glory, by C.S. Lewis)
Do you ever think about that?
That the person alongside you at the ballgame, or in front of you in the checkout line - is immortal - will live forever?
"God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart..." Eccl. 3:11 NLT
So can we afford to ignore that fact? That person who you cannot stand to be around, and take great pains to avoid, either will be with you in heaven forever or apart from everything good, away from God's presence, and forever paying for their sins?
No wonder Lewis wrote that our love must be "real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinners."
Real and costly...
That's exactly the kind of love Jesus showed us.
Some people are trapped in their sins. It's up to us to rescue them before this life is over. Take a risk. Make a difference for eternity.
Grace!
David Wilson
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
There are no ordinary people.
You have never talked to a mere mortal.
Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of the kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously--no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.
And our love must be real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinners--no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. (quote from The Weight of Glory, by C.S. Lewis)
Do you ever think about that?
That the person alongside you at the ballgame, or in front of you in the checkout line - is immortal - will live forever?
"God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart..." Eccl. 3:11 NLT
So can we afford to ignore that fact? That person who you cannot stand to be around, and take great pains to avoid, either will be with you in heaven forever or apart from everything good, away from God's presence, and forever paying for their sins?
No wonder Lewis wrote that our love must be "real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinners."
Real and costly...
That's exactly the kind of love Jesus showed us.
Some people are trapped in their sins. It's up to us to rescue them before this life is over. Take a risk. Make a difference for eternity.
Grace!
David Wilson
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
What Drives You?
We're three days into our 40 Days of Purpose here at New Hope, and today's selection in "The Purpose Driven Life" deals with what drives a person's life.
A young seminary student was sent to do a summer project in rural Pennsylvania. The idea was to get some understanding of the people who lived there, and so the pollster designed a questionnaire that included such queries as "What is your favorite TV show?", "How much did you spend at the mall last year?", and then the spiritual question, "Are you a Christian?"
Arriving at the door, the student asked the man who greeted him if he could ask some questions. "Certainly," said his host. So he asked "What's your favorite TV show?" In reply, the man said, "we do not own a TV." In answer to the second question, he answered, "nothing, we don't go to the mall." Then he realized that the man was Amish.
So he was about to write the whole visit off, but he asked the last question. In response, the man went and got a pad, and proceeded to write the names of all his neighbors and directions to their homes. When he finished, he handed it to the young man.
"I asked you if you are a Christian", the young man said, "What's this?"
"Your answer. But ask them if I am."
When I was processing the question, "What drives your life?", I wondered if a lot of times people are too close to it to really be objective. For example a man might work 100 hours a week and tell you "I'm doing this for my family." In most cases, he's doing it for greed.
What if you asked those who know you best, "What do you think it is that drives me?"
Would you be happy with their answers?
The Bible tells us that
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you,
whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)
Make sure your relationship with God is at the core of who you are, and He'll give you direction and peace.
Grace!
David
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
We're three days into our 40 Days of Purpose here at New Hope, and today's selection in "The Purpose Driven Life" deals with what drives a person's life.
A young seminary student was sent to do a summer project in rural Pennsylvania. The idea was to get some understanding of the people who lived there, and so the pollster designed a questionnaire that included such queries as "What is your favorite TV show?", "How much did you spend at the mall last year?", and then the spiritual question, "Are you a Christian?"
Arriving at the door, the student asked the man who greeted him if he could ask some questions. "Certainly," said his host. So he asked "What's your favorite TV show?" In reply, the man said, "we do not own a TV." In answer to the second question, he answered, "nothing, we don't go to the mall." Then he realized that the man was Amish.
So he was about to write the whole visit off, but he asked the last question. In response, the man went and got a pad, and proceeded to write the names of all his neighbors and directions to their homes. When he finished, he handed it to the young man.
"I asked you if you are a Christian", the young man said, "What's this?"
"Your answer. But ask them if I am."
When I was processing the question, "What drives your life?", I wondered if a lot of times people are too close to it to really be objective. For example a man might work 100 hours a week and tell you "I'm doing this for my family." In most cases, he's doing it for greed.
What if you asked those who know you best, "What do you think it is that drives me?"
Would you be happy with their answers?
The Bible tells us that
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you,
whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)
Make sure your relationship with God is at the core of who you are, and He'll give you direction and peace.
Grace!
David
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Absence and the Heart
Psalm 34:18 (Msg)
If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there;
if you're kicked in the gut, He'll help you catch your breath.
It's been two years today.
And right now my mind is flooded with might have beens. So many things are obvious blessings in my life - my wife, my boys, what God has called me to do, that I can get busy, and some of the hurt goes away. But today it's two years, and all I can think of is what we've missed - of what is absent that we had hoped would be here.
She would have had her father's eyes.
There were times when he was a little boy that we'd go off alone - to the store, to the Krystal, to Grandmother's, that I could look over in the seat next to me and see him looking at me. He'd ask questions, I'd try to answer, and the openness - the trust - the love in those eyes just melted me.
Yep. She would have had her father's eyes.
Her smile would have lit up a room, just like her mother's does. There are a lot of ways to measure people. My own personal preference is to look at their impact on others. Some people enter a room and suck all the joy out of it. When they smile it just doesn't look right, like cow horns on a Mercedes. They put it on to try to give the right response, but it isn't who they are.
Her mother is tiny. But when she smiles - she's huge.
I can see tiny feet beating the earth, little white tennis shoes slapping it as they come, bearing a smile so brilliant it warms this cold earth. She grins from ear to ear, and all you feel is joy.
She'd have her mother's smile.
By now, we'd have covered all the important things. Who loves you best, why Grandaddy's hair is gray, the funniest cartoons, how to eat Krystals and Nuways, and how come Grandmother hugs so hard. We'd have begun noticing new words, and she'd almost be reading. She'd have impacted my wallet and stolen my heart. Again.
Heart. She'd have had her grandmother's.
I have known literally thousands of people over 50 years. Some were self-contained, others - self-absorbed. A few seemed to enjoy this life, and others endured it. Many were bright, even brilliant. Others caught the eye, or in some other way made it through the clutter of a life's experiences to my heart.
But none have loved me like Bunny has. For no one I've ever known loves that deeply.
Two years ago, as we rolled up calendars toward April 29th, the expected day of joy, our home was filled with baby clothing, baby toys, baby... stuff. People around us shared in that and we added our own items. I remember visiting Target with Bunny and hearing her say a dozen times, "won't that look so pretty on Ana?" The only girl in a string of boys, the only girl in her own home full of men - young and older - the possibility to hold, to love, to care, to dress!!! a baby girl was excitement personified.
And when the days stopped for Ana, her Grandmother didn't stop loving. She found a way to love beyond the pain in helping her daughter-in-love deliver her baby. As I watched Bunny hold that small and delicate baby in her arms, weeping and talking to her as if she could hear... it was the greatest expression of love I've ever seen - through the deepest heartache.
She'd have had her Grandmother's heart.
For me, I don't know what I could have given her. It certainly wouldn't be material things, and her mom and dad would certainly taught her the A, B, C's and enlightened her on them 'Dawgs and Georgia politics.
So I guess she'd have had my prayers each day from infancy to adulthood, my lap to sit in, my knees to ride, and later my shoulder to cry on and my ears to hear.
It's been two years today. Two long years. Her absence hurts our hearts. But one day...
We will see her.
And that thrills my heart.
Grace, mercy, and peace,
David Wilson
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
Psalm 34:18 (Msg)
If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there;
if you're kicked in the gut, He'll help you catch your breath.
It's been two years today.
And right now my mind is flooded with might have beens. So many things are obvious blessings in my life - my wife, my boys, what God has called me to do, that I can get busy, and some of the hurt goes away. But today it's two years, and all I can think of is what we've missed - of what is absent that we had hoped would be here.
She would have had her father's eyes.
There were times when he was a little boy that we'd go off alone - to the store, to the Krystal, to Grandmother's, that I could look over in the seat next to me and see him looking at me. He'd ask questions, I'd try to answer, and the openness - the trust - the love in those eyes just melted me.
Yep. She would have had her father's eyes.
Her smile would have lit up a room, just like her mother's does. There are a lot of ways to measure people. My own personal preference is to look at their impact on others. Some people enter a room and suck all the joy out of it. When they smile it just doesn't look right, like cow horns on a Mercedes. They put it on to try to give the right response, but it isn't who they are.
Her mother is tiny. But when she smiles - she's huge.
I can see tiny feet beating the earth, little white tennis shoes slapping it as they come, bearing a smile so brilliant it warms this cold earth. She grins from ear to ear, and all you feel is joy.
She'd have her mother's smile.
By now, we'd have covered all the important things. Who loves you best, why Grandaddy's hair is gray, the funniest cartoons, how to eat Krystals and Nuways, and how come Grandmother hugs so hard. We'd have begun noticing new words, and she'd almost be reading. She'd have impacted my wallet and stolen my heart. Again.
Heart. She'd have had her grandmother's.
I have known literally thousands of people over 50 years. Some were self-contained, others - self-absorbed. A few seemed to enjoy this life, and others endured it. Many were bright, even brilliant. Others caught the eye, or in some other way made it through the clutter of a life's experiences to my heart.
But none have loved me like Bunny has. For no one I've ever known loves that deeply.
Two years ago, as we rolled up calendars toward April 29th, the expected day of joy, our home was filled with baby clothing, baby toys, baby... stuff. People around us shared in that and we added our own items. I remember visiting Target with Bunny and hearing her say a dozen times, "won't that look so pretty on Ana?" The only girl in a string of boys, the only girl in her own home full of men - young and older - the possibility to hold, to love, to care, to dress!!! a baby girl was excitement personified.
And when the days stopped for Ana, her Grandmother didn't stop loving. She found a way to love beyond the pain in helping her daughter-in-love deliver her baby. As I watched Bunny hold that small and delicate baby in her arms, weeping and talking to her as if she could hear... it was the greatest expression of love I've ever seen - through the deepest heartache.
She'd have had her Grandmother's heart.
For me, I don't know what I could have given her. It certainly wouldn't be material things, and her mom and dad would certainly taught her the A, B, C's and enlightened her on them 'Dawgs and Georgia politics.
So I guess she'd have had my prayers each day from infancy to adulthood, my lap to sit in, my knees to ride, and later my shoulder to cry on and my ears to hear.
It's been two years today. Two long years. Her absence hurts our hearts. But one day...
We will see her.
And that thrills my heart.
Grace, mercy, and peace,
David Wilson
This devotional is written by David Wilson, pastor of New Hope Baptist church in Valparaiso, FL. If you find you have received this via a forward and would like to receive it regularly, or find you no longer wish to receive it, drop me an email at dwilsonfl@earthlink.net and I'll make the change to the list. If you'd like to know more about New Hope, visit our website at www.newhopevalp.org . May God bless you.
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