Colossians 3:22-23
   
“You slaves must always obey your earthly masters, not only trying to please them when they are watching you but all the time; obey them willingly because of your love for the Lord and because you want to please Him. Work hard and cheerfully at all you do, just as though you were working for the Lord and not merely for your masters” (Liv)

I suppose many in America have been watching the news reports about a certain actress who has been sentenced to jail for her failure to obey previous court judgements.  What’s stood out to me is her protests that she is doing what she was supposed to do.  Obviously the judge disagreed.  But it made me think of many of my students who will do what they think is the minimum required and then protest when they find that the minimum (what they thought was the minimum) was simply not enough.

We have created a society where we think that doing the minimum is enough, in fact, more than enough.  Rather than strive to do our best, we seem to want to reserve our resources for other endeavors and, instead, are only willing to give the minimum to others.  This certainly isn’t the will of the Lord for the Lord wants us to give our best—even more than our best—to others as if we were giving to Him.  Paul admonishes us to “obey [our masters] willingly because of our love for the Lord and because we want to please Him” (v. 22).  The fact is, even though very few exist as true slaves these days, we are partial slaves.  When we are at work or at school, we are not our own; we are, in a sense, slaves to those who rule over us, our masters whether those masters are our bosses or our teachers.

What Paul says is interesting in its completeness.  He says: “You must always obey your earthly masters.”  The sense isn’t that we are to do those things that are illegal (if they are asked of us), but rather, as the verse concludes, that we are to obey them even when they aren’t looking.  So, even when our bosses don’t expect our best, we are still suppose to give it.  We are to “work hard and cheerfully at all we do.”

The NKJV has an interesting translation: “obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart.”    Not with eyeservice.  In other words, not just for what others might see (and then commend us to), but as unto the One Who sees all we do.  We are to work hard, to do our best, because ultimately we serve God.

The Lord Jesus always asks us to go the extra mile:

“If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away” (Matthew 5:40-42 NKJV)

The hardest workers, the most cheerful, the most committed . . . that should describe each of us all the time.  We serve the King of Kings!  There isn’t a better boss than He!

Hebrews 11:1
   
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

God isn’t McDonald’s.

I’m gone from home for a week, living out of suitcases, hotels, and, unfortunately, fast food restaurants (if you can put “fast food” and “restaurant” in the same sentence).  Unlike children who usually clamor for their favorite junk food, most of us know that after a day or two your body rebels at eating fast food.  I’m grateful for the microwave and small fridge in my hotel room and a super Wal-Mart that sells salads!

But the point is this: Most fast food joints are now promising your meal within so many minutes or it’s free.  And you get it: all the sawdust, processed sugar, and dirt (yes, dirt!) you can eat and within five minutes, no less.  And I think we’ve become so accustomed to having what we want when we want it that we’ve forgotten: God isn’t McDonald’s.  (Thank goodness.)  The really good things in life most often don’t come in five minutes.

Wisdom . . . patience . . . knowledge . . . love.  None of those things develop within us in five minutes or even five days.  Some not even within five years!  The really good things in life take time.  Thankfully, for our God, time is never an issue.  He never runs out of time because He created it.  Father God can change anything, fix anything, and heal anything because He has enough time to do it.  He always has enough time.  And He encourages us to trust Him with that time to do what He has already promised He will do.

The Bible is full of promises about waiting on God.  And what does it mean to wait on God?  It means giving Him enough time to do what He already wants to do in our lives.

Psalm 27:14 (NKJ):  Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!
 
Psalm 37:7a (NKJ): Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;

Psalm 37:9 (NKJ):  For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

Psalm 37:34a (NKJ):  Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land;

Proverbs 20:22 (NKJ):  Do not say, "I will recompense evil"; wait for the Lord, and He will save you.
 
Isaiah 30:18b (NKJ):  Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
 
Isaiah 40:31 (NKJ):  But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
 
Isaiah 49:23 (NKJ): You will know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me."
 
Here are all the things these verses promise that God will do when we agree to wait for Him:

•   Strengthen our hearts
•   Inherit the earth
•   Exalt us to inherit the land
•   Save us
•   Bless us
•   Renew our strength
•   Not be ashamed

There are blessings waiting for us if we wait on the Lord.  Now waiting on the Lord is hard because it means we wait.  We don’t plan, we don’t do; we simply wait.  We pray, we trust, we wait.  In this culture of making “to do” lists, planners, and go-go-go, it’s hard to wait.  Those around us may think we are crazy for waiting.  But when we wait, God works miracles!

Learning to wait is a fruit of the Spirit.  And we need it.  Today life does not encourage waiting and patience.  As you note, we want everything now.  This system does not encourage excellence.

I want to learn to be patient and I want it NOW!

aahhhh, reminders are welcome!!

I had a friend who used to pray for patience.
But every time she did, God gave her another kid.
She quit praying for patience.

praying for patience is dangerous.      I just thank God for the patience I have and ask for some grace.  LOL

servingod, when will you be back home.  I'm with you on fast food and 'restaurant'.   

On my way home tomorrow.  It's been a long week, my last week of doctoral classes.  Now my comps, dissertation, and I'm done (which should take about a year).  But I'm ready for my own kitchen (and bed).  This living in hotels is for the birds.  Just not my cup of tea.

2 Peter 1:3-8

“Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. [4] For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. [5] Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; [6] and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; [7] and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. [8] For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (NAS)

I was reading my Wesley devotional this morning and it focused on this passage.  I was intrigued by two sentences ending the short devotional: “Our diligence is to follow the gift of God. And diligence is followed by an increase of all His gifts.”  Earlier Wesley explains the significance of the word translated here as applying:

“Giving all diligence—a very uncommon word which we render giving.  It signifies bringing in over and above; implying that God works the work, yet not unless we are diligent.”

I looked at Strong’s and it gave, as the definition of pareisphero: to bear alongside, i.e. introduce simultaneously. (Strong’s G3923). The NASB Greek & Hebrew Dictionary gave, as the definition: To bring in, to supply besides (NASB Greek 3923).

This passage intrigues me because I think it is an excellent concise description of the process of maturing as a believer.  So I’m going to pull the passage apart in order to understand it.

For by these (v 4) looks back to His own glory and excellence.  So by His glory and excellent come His precious and magnificent promises.

Why?

So that (still v 4) we might become partakes of the divine nature, having escape the corruption of the world.  The corruption of the world is sin.  The divine nature is both perfect and eternal.  Thus, the promise is that we are partakers of that which is perfect (without sin) and eternal (everlasting) because He promised it so.  That is the result of salvation.

Now for this reason (v 5) refers back to the promises that we have received: being made without sin and eternal.  Because of that, and applying all diligence.  I agree with Wesley that this phrase—applying all diligence—is the center of this entire passage. Without it, the entire dynamic falls apart because it separates us, as believers, from the first part.  God does the first—giving us the promises of being partakers of the divine nature and escaping the corruption of the world—and we do the second.

In a second, this is similar to If-Then promise, only grammatically set about opposite.  It’s actually more of a Because He did-We should do kind of structure.   The ending of the structure is also different.  In an If-Then promise, if we do something, then God has promised that He will respond in a certain way.  In this passage, God has already done His part, but if we fail to respond as we should, then a certain result takes place.

•   God has granted to us His promises: (1) partakers of the divine nature and (2) escape from the corruption in the world (sin)
•   If we apply all diligence (v 5) in doing a set of things, then we will end up being neither useless nor unfruitful.  In other words, we will end up being useful and fruitful.

What are the things we are to apply with all diligence?

•   v 5: moral excellence, and then . . .
•   v 5: knowledge, and then . . .
•   v 6: self-control, and then . . .
•   v 6: perseverance, and then . . .
•   v 6: godliness, and then . . .
•   v 7: brotherly kindness, and then . . .
•   v 7: love

This sequence begins in v 5 with the Greek word epichoregeo (Strong’s G2023).  The meaning is “to furnish besides, to aid or contribute, to nourish.”  The NASB dictionary fully defines it as “to supply.”  The English dictionary (Merriam-Webster Online) gives three main emphases for the word supply: to add as a supplement, to provide, to substitute.  I think that definitely the first two apply: to supplement and to provide.  So, then we look at the sequence.  Now, this is a very interesting sequence, particularly when you think about the focus in contemporary churches where we often stress that we are to love each other, but we seldom talk about personal moral excellence.  We seem to think that if we begin with love, that all other things will follow.  But, it seems that Peter is telling us that there is a long journey prior to learning to love and the first step of that journey is moral excellence followed by knowledge, then self-control, then perseverance, then godliness, then brotherly kindness, and then, finally, love.

Love is very difficult.  I think most of us would admit that.  To love our neighbor (who is awful), to love our enemy (who harms us).  These kinds of love are very difficult.  But to have moral excellence?  That is easier, just not as comfortable discussing, because it means that there are things in our lives that we need to toss out.  And some of those are near and dear to our hearts.  I won’t make a list because it may be that my list will be different from yours.  But what are the things that draw me into the world?  That distract me from prayer, from confession, from study?  What are the things that promote my pride, my hard-heartedness?  It’s very likely that we easily can identify these things (though we would rather not).  In our walk toward love, these are the things that we should begin with, supplying this portion with all diligence.  When we give up these things completely, then we are ready to move onto the next step which is knowledge of our Savior and His heart for the world.

Are you ready?  I want to be.  That is my prayer for today.

Daniel 3:15-18

[Nebuchadnezzar said], “Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?"
   Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."  (NKJ)

Living: “If we are thrown into the flaming furnace, our God is able to deliver us; and he will deliver us out of your hand, Your Majesty. But if he doesn't, please understand, sir, that even then we will never under any circumstance serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have erected."

God is able to deliver, but even if He doesn’t, we will continue to serve Him and not sin.

How often do we place the strength of our faith on our circumstances?  On what we think or expect God to do, rather than on His character?  How often do we put our faith aside when hard times come, thinking that by being believers we should be excused?

There isn’t much said about these three men in scripture.  They are mentioned earlier in Daniel as being with him in refusing to sin by eating foods forbidden by the Law and they are three of the ones Daniel set up as governors.  But other than that, there is no mention.  In other words, they weren’t great preachers.  They simply worked in a foreign place, kept themselves clean of the sin of that society, and were willing to give up their lives for God.  Actually, that’s a lot!  Think just about living in a foreign place.  No familiar foods.  Away from your family.  Strange language, strange customs, always wondering what the next “impossible” demand might be.  These young men had very little security in their lives aside from their faith. 

When the Israelites were first taken into captivity, King Nebuchadnezzar decided to take the best and the brightest and train them for his court.  Daniel and these three young men were among those chosen.  The king, believing that giving them the best of life would produce the best in them, sent all kinds of delicacies for them to eat.  But Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego felt that these things would defile him and so declined, preferring to eat simply vegetables and drink water.  They could have eaten the same delicious food as the king, but knowing that the king didn’t have a kosher kitchen, remained eating plain simple foods.  In other words, from the beginning, they were giving up, living sacrificially.

You might think that simply having to live in a different country as a slave might be enough sacrifice in one’s life to satisfy God.  But God is, I think, much more concerned with our character than our circumstances.  His purpose is never to reward us here in this life, but to prepare us for the next.  And a far greater sacrifice faced the three young men when they were faced with being thrown into the furnace.

The fire was so hot that the men who threw them in perished.  And while the three young men were saved, miraculously, without even a singe on their hair, they had no idea that God would work a miracle.  They were simply willing to serve Him, even if it meant dying for Him.  Are we?  Are we willing to serve God to the point of dying for Him?  Are we willing to give up all creature comforts in order to remain pure for Him?  These accounts were given to us in scripture in order to be examples for us (1 Cor. 10:11).  The question is . . . will we heed the example, step up the pace, and learn to live one hundred percent for the Lord?

© 2010 Robin L. O’Hare.  All rights reserved.  Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice).  For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

"Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ So he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’ And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” NKJ.

Thomas has the ignoble reputation of being “Doubting Thomas.” I wonder who first gave him that epithet. Certainly, it’s not in scripture, and yet it may not be without merit. It’s obvious that the Lord rebuked, however gently, Thomas for failing to believe even though he didn’t see. For doubting.

What’s interesting is that Thomas hadn’t dropped to a level of faith any lower than any of the other disciples. In fact, all he lacked was their same experience. The Lord had already appeared to them! So, the expectation wasn’t that all of the disciples were required to believe without seeing. There must be something else, then, in this account. Perhaps Jesus’ seeming admonition wasn’t an admonition at all, but rather a teaching lesson, one aimed more at those of us who would follow.

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The word “blessed” means happy or fortunate. To me, that doesn’t make sense? How can not seeing Jesus make someone happy or fortunate? How is it fortunate not to actually see Him, to actually touch Him?

What does it mean to not see and yet believe? Hebrews 11:1 may give us the answer and the Living version, while still a paraphrase, says it very plainly:

“What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead.”

Also 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJ): “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Even though we cannot see it, it is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. We walk by faith, not by sight.

To not see and yet believe is to have faith, to trust. And there is so much in the Bible on faith! It must be very important to God.

• The just live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17)
• Our sins will be forgiven because of our faith (Matthew 9:2; Luke 5:20)
• We will be healed because of our faith (Matthew 9:22, 29, 15:28; Mark 2:5, 5:34, 10:52; Luke 7:50, 8:48, 17:19, 18:42; Acts 14:9)
• We can move mountains with faith (Matthew 17:20, 21:21)
• What matters to God is faith (Matthew 23:23)
• Fear will be gone; faith is the opposite of fear (Mark 4:40)
• God will take care of our needs because of our faith (Luke 12:28)
• We can move trees with faith (Luke 17:5)
• We can pray for others and they will be healed because of our faith (Acts 3:16)
• We can do wonders and signs because of our faith (Acts 6:
• Salvation comes only through faith (Romans 1:5, 3:22, 25; Eph. 2:
• We are justified by faith (Romans 3:28, 30; 5:1; Galatians 2:6, 3:11)
• Our faith is accounted for righteousness (it takes place of having to be fully righteous within ourselves) (Romans 4:5, 9)
• Salvation was offered to us, as the Gentiles, because of faith (Romans 4:16)
• We are strengthened because of faith (Romans 4:20)
• We have peace with God because of faith (Romans 5:1)
• We have access to God because of faith (Romans 5:2; Eph. 3:12)
• We can use our gifts (of the Spirit) because of faith (Romans 12:6)
• We stand (persevere) because of our faith (2 Cor. 1:24)
• We are supplied the Spirit by faith (Galatians 3:5, 14)
• We are blessed because of faith (Galatians 3:9)
• We are sons of God through faith (Galatians 3:26)
• Christ dwells in our hearts through faith (Eph. 3:17)
• We are unified, brought together, through faith (Eph. 4:13)
• We can quench Satan’s darts with faith (Eph. 6:16)
• We are righteous through faith (Phil. 3:9)
• We are raised with Christ through faith (Col. 2:12)

This is an amazing list! And it’s certainly not meant to be complete, but it does illustrate the importance of faith. It also shows us why we are blessed when we have faith, for without faith, we would have none of this. This all comes when we are willing to trust God without seeing! Unfortunately, we are people who like to see, who like to have things proven to us and even then we sometimes don’t believe. And when we demand that God prove Himself or His love to us, I think we place ourselves in the position of losing out on these many, many blessings.
When we are content to trust and not to demand evidence, when we are content to believe and not to doubt, we have access to all of this. And faith, like love, isn’t a feeling, but a choice. We choose to trust; we choose to believe. Or we choose to doubt.

We always believe something. When we doubt the Lord, it is because we are believing something else, usually either our own emotions or thoughts, or the circumstances around us. And yet we know that our senses can lie to us. They aren’t trustworthy.

Have you ever just eaten and you know you’re full? But then you go buy a hamburger joint and things smell so good and you have this craving?? Your sense of smell is lying to you. You aren’t hungry, but your sense of smell is so strong that it makes your brain say: Eat! Eat! Eat!

Or have you ever looked at an optical illusion? You just know that the picture is one thing, only to discover that your eyes lied to you and the picture is actually something else.

Our senses–and our brain interpreting those impulses–can lie to us. We can think that something is one way only to discover that the truth is quite different. So when we trust, believe, have faith in our circumstances as being the truth of God, we can actually be believing a lie. God calls us to trust Him because He’s trustworthy. He calls us to have faith because it is through faith that the conduit to believing Him and allowing Him is opened. The Spirit is freed to work in our lives when we have faith.

Now does that mean that He will necessarily change our circumstances? No. Hebrews 11:39 tells us that even those great ones in the Old Testament who had faith didn’t receive the promise. Why? Because God had something even better planned! When He leaves our circumstances alone, it is because He is doing even a greater thing. We need to trust that His plan is far better than anything we can imagine.

I think that Jesus admonished Thomas, not to rebuke him, but rather to teach us about faith, to give us that promise! Rather than being Doubting Thomas, perhaps he is rather Thomas the Example. Thomas is like us, wanting to see, rather than to believe, because seeing is easier. But Jesus calls on us to believe because having faith is far better than seeing . . . at least in this life.

© 2010 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Ran into the subject of faith with my sister.  Interestingly, I was led to explain to her that ours is not blind faith but a calculated faith.  In the same way that we know we have good reason to believe that an airplane will fly, a car will drive, an elevator will go up and down, we have good reason to believe that God loves us.  We have seen all these things in action.  And if we open our eyes we have seen God's love in action as well.

Galatians 5:22-23
   
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” (NKJ)

I’ve been thinking about kindness and gentleness a lot lately.  Probably because being kind and gentle isn’t natural to me like it is to other people.  I’ve known a number of people who were constantly kind and gentle.  For example, I think about one couple we know, Tom and Linda Marshall.  Both of them have always been so soft spoken but willing to step up and help anyone in need.  Both so kind and gentle.  They always come to my mind as examples of how I should be around everyone else.

Several times in the New Testament, both Paul and Peter talk about believers being kind:

2 Cor. 6:4-10 (NKJ): “But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”

In 2 Cor.  Paul makes this list of things which he says prove believers as ministers of God.  Among a very impressive list that includes all kinds of persecution, he includes kindness.  Being kind to others.

Col. 3:12-13 (NKJ): “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”

In his letter to the Colossian church, Paul tells us that, as the elect of God—as believers—we are to put on kindness.  That means, we are to choose to be kind.  It isn’t something that will somehow just happen to us.  We need to consciously choose to be kind to those around us.

2 Peter 1:5-7 (NKJ): “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”

Peter includes kindness in his hierarchy of Christian maturity.  It’s interesting, too, that Peter places kindness near the end of the hierarchy.  Perhaps for Peter kindness was difficult.  I do believe that, at least for most of us, without the power of the Spirit in our lives, we couldn’t be kind.  I know that it’s very difficult for me.

In looking at definitions of being kind, one phrase stuck out at me: “a willingness to do good.”  How often do I choose what I’m going to do based on whether it is good for someone else?  Do I think about what I’m doing and either the evil or good it will cause?  Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians  5:15 (NKJ): “See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.”  I know that I need to be kinder to those around me.  I need to consciously think about being kind and then do that kind and good thing, rather than what comes naturally.  What comes naturally is often awful!  So I need to make a conscious effort to think about what I do, whether or not it’s kind.

© 2010 Robin L. O’Hare.  All rights reserved.  Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice).  For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Luke 12:16-21
   
Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry." '  But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." (NKJV)

About three weeks ago, I returned from Virginia.  I went there to take the last course of my doctorate program at Liberty University.  During the week, part of the course was taught by Dr. Jill Jones, an education professor.  A passionate Christian, Dr. Jones also reiterated over and over to us that our doctorate program would open many doors.  She, well, bragged about how she had just published a woman’s devotional and was a speaker at many women’s retreats.  It struck me oddly, actually, that she felt that God would reward her work on a secular degree with these accomplishments.  There was basically a sense of arrogance with her passion.

I can relate.  I have struggled with arrogance and a sense of superiority for many years and work hard to esteem others.  However, putting aside arrogance and embracing humility is something very important to the Lord and thus, needs to be important to me.  I need to listen more and talk less.  Much less.

Yesterday morning early, Dr. Jones went Home to be with the Lord in a terrible auto accident.  She was also joined in death by one of her teen sons.  It made me think of this passage, not because I think she was the rich man accumulating for herself, but because we can never put stock into accomplishments in this life.  What does it matter now that she did (or didn’t) write a book?  In fact, I’m absolutely convinced that Dr. Jones herself doesn’t care at all this moment about her book or her doctorate, but instead is totally focused on sitting at the feet of the Savior she dearly loves!

Coincidentally (or perhaps not so much coincidence), the devotion in my Wesley book today spoke about focusing on today (rather than on the future) and laying hold of the grace God has provided for this day:

“Give all diligence today to add to your faith courage, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness and the fear of God, till you attain that pure and perfect love.  Let these things be now in you and abound.  In steadfast faith, in calm tranquility of spirit, in full assurance of hope, rejoicing evermore for what God has done, run the race set before you till, through perfect love, you enter into His glory!”

Yesterday, between times of dealing with the shock that one of my professors (yes, I am still enrolled in that class and she was still my current professor) is gone, I was also so struck with the fact that Jill is now in the presence of the Lord Jesus!  What glory to close one’s eyes here, opening them in Heaven, in the presence of the Father.  That is what we, as believers, should be focused on, should be living for, should be shouting from the mountaintops!  We have a Hope and that Hope is the living Savior Who is, absolutely is, waiting for us in our eternal home.  What is this here that we should fret about it?  Simply living for today to minister to those around us, trusting the Lord to provide, is all we need to give our energy to.  Tomorrow is taken care of by our blessed Lord and Savior.  And someday, Jill, I’m going to join you at Home in Heaven.  Until then, dear sister, enjoy your time face to face with our Savior!