Friday; November 18

Do we ever feel like people don’t respect us? Does it seem that no matter how good we try to be, people are constantly critical of us? Wouldn’t it be nice if people would just see that we are good, caring people who want to do what is best for people? Well, while this might sound like it makes sense, I hate to break the news to you, but we probably shouldn’t count on it. Most of us have grown up to believe that if we just do good and try hard, people will respect us; but the truth is that that isn’t a guarantee. In fact, all we have to do is look to the life of Jesus our Lord and Master and realize that it doesn’t work that way. When John reflected on His life he noted, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:4-5). While this sounds pretty depressing, it gets even worse. Not only did the people not understand Jesus, they killed Him. They didn’t just ignore His light … they sought to extinguish it.

While this can be discouraging, there is hope for Christians. Sure, the world may ignore us – or even try to persecute us – but, as long as we stay faithful to the Lord, we will not be alone. There will always be Someone walking with us – Someone encouraging, supporting and guiding us.

When we find ourselves struggling in the world, let’s remember Jesus’ example. No matter what people said or did to Him, He continued to love them by serving them. Just like Him, our circumstances might be tough, but since He has already endured the darkness and overcome it, the Light of our lives will always shine for us (and in us).

Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more