GLORY

Ps 29:1 ¶ A psalm of David. Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ps 29:2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to his name; worship the LORD in the splendour of his holiness.
Ps 29:3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
Ps 29:9 The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"
Ps 30:12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks for ever.
Ps 45:3 Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one; clothe yourself with splendour and majesty.

ROOTS

Mathew 13: 1 – 9
Ever look at a tree? What we see is the trunk and the branches. It is a strong living thing. What we don't see is the roots. Roots are the key to the tree.
Roots are what makes the tree strong. They anchor the tree, keeping it from blowing away in a storm, and the feed the tree, making and keeping it strong and healthy in its treeness(tee, hee).
If the tree has more branches and leaves than roots, the the wood is weak, prone to disease and of no use for building anything with, but if the opposite is true, if there are more roots, than the wood is strong, dense and ready to use.
We are like trees in as much as it is our roots that anchor us, define us, strengthen us, and give us a sense of who we are. We are also like trees in a spiritual sense, if we aren't rooted in the word, we will wilt when we are faced with challenges to our faith.
This is what Jesus is getting at in the parable of the sower. He showed that without the roots that family and faith provide we are nothing. We will never be able to stand up for anything.
Roots aren’t at all glamorous, but they are the source of our strength. If our roots go deep in the knowledge of God (Jer. 9:24) and our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3), we’ll be strong, resistant to blight, and more likely to survive the storms of adversity.
3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.
8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
I love my roots. I relish in the heritage of my family. We have a proud history of service to God and country. On my fathers side our family was, and still is, in service to the British crown in the military, while on my mothers side of the family most of my cousins are either ministers or missionaries.
All this combined to lead me to Christ, and shape the husband, step-father, and man that I am today.
We all have roots, Jesus wants them to run deep and strong, so read the parable of the sower, meditate on its meaning, reflect on your own heritage and depth of faith.

BETRAYED

Mathew 27: 1 – 10
Nothing is quite as hurtful as betrayal, both sides of the betrayal are usually devastated by it.
I know the pain of being thrown under the bus, and, if I am to remain truthful, I unfortunately know the guilt of throwing someone under the bus.
The reasons we do these things varies from things like jealousy, to fear, money, etc.
Mathew writes in his account of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, that the guilt we can feel can be paralyzing. Judas could no longer go on. He saw no other option of relieving his guilt other than to take his own life.
1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death.
2 They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.
3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders.
4 "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That’s your responsibility."
5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.
When we make choices to betray each other, we feel the guilt, but we move on with our lives and act as if we really did do it, eventually we begin to believe that lie and we hide our actions from ourselves.
When we make choices that betray Jesus, eventually our lives become filled with sorrow. Even well-intentioned followers find that their desire to love and serve Him is frequently on a collision course with the lure of cash or other seductions. But the things we have gained at His expense ultimately and inevitably become clanging symbols of sorrow and regret.
How on earth can we reconcile our guilt over this?
On earth there is no answer, or reconciliation. There is only the forgiveness and salvation offered by Jesus himself. Thankfully we can go to him and admit our wrongs and have that guilt washed away. And, the cool thing is he offers that freedom with no strings attached. He will not only offer forgiveness for our sins against him, but for our sins against each other.
(which is really sinning against God anyway)

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Haggai 1: 3 – 8
A few years ago, we witnessed one of the worst natural disasters our country has ever seen in hurricane Katrina. We watched as the city of New Orleans sank below the waters, and anarchy was born on the streets. I myself have never seen such destruction, nor have I seen such lawlessness.
The base nature of human beings came to the fore. Looting was the rule of the day, and it was reported that armed gangs roamed the streets in search of victims.
I don't blame the people for looting stores for their own survival, truth be told, if I owned a store in that city, I would have just thrown the doors open and said help yourself. What was wrong and worrying was that people not only took what they needed, but they satisfied their lust for material gain and foolish greed.
What good did big screen TV's do for the survival for the citizenry of the gulf coast? How were drugs and alcohol necessary for sustained life?
The book of Ecclesiastes tell us that there is nothing new under the sun. Haggai tells us that God knew how we would react to the duress we as humans would face during disasters, rather they be natural or of our own making; that our selfish nature would run amok.
4 "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?"
5 Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways.
6 You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."
On behalf of a loving God, Haggai urged his neighbors to give careful attention to what had happened. He noted the priority they were giving to their own comforts and wanted them to observe how dissatisfied and empty they still were. If God didn’t care, He wouldn’t ask us to consider the time and effort we are spending on diminishing returns. If He didn’t love us, He couldn’t remind us of all that He has given us. God sees what has happened to us and knows how much we need to focus on Him today.
My friends, everyday we go through minor disasters. Minor because they happen on a much more personal basis than those disasters that make the nightly news. We lose jobs, members of our families die, that old water heater falls apart, time and time again we are tested,We choose how we will react to these issues, those choices being; following our base natures or the way that God would have us follow.

I FAILED BUT WILL TRY AGAIN

I set a task to read the Bible in 90 days.

I fell 60 pages short.

There is no blame to assess, only glory given to God for setting my feet on this path. So it turns out that I will read the Bible in 94 days.

I started this plan on the first of June when I was watching a video cast from the church of Christ of Pittsburg. their Pastor gave the challenge to his congregation to achieve this goal. their advantage over me was that they were going through it as a body, I was going alone and got lazy.

Enough poor me's.

When I am done reading God's word, I will start again.

All Praise be to his name.

PASS IT ON

Deuteronomy 4: 5 – 10
Back in my twenty's I had two rings that were passed down to me, one from my father and one from my mother. The ring that came from my father was a large mens onyx ring that was really quite good looking, the ring from my mother was from her father(my grandfather) was a signet ring that she had engraved with my initials.
Both rings had a great deal of value to me, but I took possession of them in a time during my life when I could have cared less for what the generation before me had passed along. I took that ring from my father, and I pawned it to buy a jug of wine and some other mind altering substances. Some how, the other ring survived, I would have done the same thing, only I couldn't find it.
The point that I'm trying to make is that; I lost that part of my heritage,it's gone, forgotten and can't be replaced and my life is lessened because of my actions.
It doesn't matter how the other ring survived, but, I have it and it reminds me, whenever I wear it, of my grandfather and all the stories he told me of his childhood growing up in Ireland, and of all the things he tried to teach me before he passed on.
God's word is like those two rings. If it becomes lost, we are lost, if it is kept, there is a rich past upon which we can build our lives and not forget the teachings given to our ancestors.
9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them
10 Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, "Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children."
God always says it so much better than I can. His word is rich and beautiful desirous.
Back in the days of Deuteronomy, the people were being handed a gift from God, “the statutes and the judgments” that would allow them to live properly in the land of God’s promise. Along with those laws came an admonition for the people to share with their progeny the lessons God taught them on the way. They were told not to “forget the things your eyes have seen” and to teach God’s words to their children and grandchildren. We have a similar legacy to convey to the next generation. As followers of Christ, we take this as one of our greatest responsibilities.
Teach your children, teach them about their heritage, let them learn the history of the family. Most importantly, teach them the word of God it will never let them down, and it will give them a firm foundation for their lives and the lives of their children.

If children are to find their way to God, we must point the way.

TITLE OR TESTIMONY

John 13: 3 – 16
I'm a van driver.
My title is “transportation coordinator”, no matter what they call me, I'm still just a van driver. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to put down my job, what I do is important to my company and our clients, but my title doesn't equal my job.
3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;
4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round his waist.
5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped round him.
13 "You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’, and rightly so, for that is what I am.
14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.
Now before you get all up in my grill, I'm not comparing my title or my job to Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. All I have to say is that my job has this very impressive sounding title which upon hearing, most people would assume that I wear a suit and tie whilst I use my brain and intuition to coordinate a fleet of vehicles getting them to their proper place to do their proper job.
I drive a van, no more no less, a service that is provided to lift up the lives of people in need, and is an example of how we are to supposed to lift up and serve each other.
Jesus set the example for us all to follow. Talk about a title; “Lord and Savior”, and here he is doing the job of the lowliest of slaves then telling us all to do the same.
Its a tough thing to do, humility does not come easy, we all have a tendency to hold ourselves in pretty high regard, but the thing we all need to learn is that humility, or being humble, is not the same as being humiliated.
So, here's the question; Do you want a title or do you want a testimony?
Do you want people to remember you for the position you held at work, or for the work that you did?
I know the choice that I have made is to be remembered for my work. In interoffice e-mail, I have changed my closing salutation, to;
Yours in Christ
Geoff church
van driver
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I have been successful in removing my official title, and putting the emphasis on what I really do, provide a needed service.
Remember, Pharaoh had the title, but Joseph had the testimony.
The more we serve Christ, the less we will serve self.