Build a bridge and get over it.

Sorry for the sarcasm of the title. It's catching, though, isn't it?

Ephesians 5:20 Giving thanks always in all things unto God...

I have noticed an interesting contrast on Facebook this week. Nine days ago, many of my friends started expressing thankfulness for the manifold blessings in their life. It has been wonderful reading these and I appreciate the spirit of such an exercise. It is a great testimony of the grace of God at work in our life. 

At nearly the same time, a few days ago, many people, including some that are expressing thanks for some things in their life, are or have been engaged in murmuring, complaining, and even darkly prognosticating the future. This my friends is what James referred to as a fountain yielding fresh water and salt water. He goes on to say, "These things ought not so to be." 

Please consider the scriptural mandate in the life of a child of God...always in all things. 

Two things. First, if things truly do get worse, it is Bible prophecy being fulfilled and the coming of my Savior is ever nearer. The Bible is clear that everyone will turn their back on Israel. Secondly, remember Nineveh. They were bad from the king all the way down. One half hearted man of God, who finally obeyed God saw God turn that place around. What could have happened if the half hearted servant had been enthusiastically obedient? Let's find out. Let's serve God and trust God. Let's enthusiastically obey the Lord and let's just see if these have to be the last vestiges of freedom as we have known it. My freedom comes from the Son so I am free indeed.

And then I want to say to men of God who may be reading this, ministers, preachers, missionaries, and others in authority as you handle the word of God. I believe God's men ought to set the example. Paul gladly took that challenge upon himself with the Lord Jesus Christ as his pattern. Listen, the election is over. Romans 13:1 tells us that the powers that be are ordained of God. God's will was accomplished. Stop defending Him like He is a poor bullied student on a playground. Lead, exemplify, pray, and lead a peaceable life.

Family Devotion

This morning I have a couple firsts. The first first you may pick up on quickly because the blog itself may look different. I am writing this on my phone through the Blogger app and having never used it before, I am not sure how it will turn out. For that reason, I will probably be brief. And please overlook any typos and autospell mistakes. I will come back later and fix any mistakes I missed.
The second first of the day was just wrapped up and I wanted to report it to you. The Wilson family has always had a devotion time. When the kids were younger, Bible reading and prayer as a family was more frequent but as they have grown we have stressed personal Bible reading and devotion. I am always looking for new and exciting ways to incorporate the Bible into our family living and that tends to be challenging as my family gets older. Maybe this new way of "devoting" together will encourage you and your family. Last week I asked Jen to pick up five small spiral bound notebooks. These are 5.5 x 4.25 with 200 sheets. I passed out the notebooks to each family member, along with a pen in the spiral. At the beginning of the week I suggested a scripture reference that we all wrote on the front of a page. For the last week we have been memorizing the verse if we didn't already know it and each of us were to write our personal impressions or thoughts about the verse in our notebooks. This morning we all came together after breakfast and shared what tidbits we wrote in our notebooks. This spurred a great conversation among all of us and allowed each to express their own understanding or what the verse said to them. I am totally excited over the content and participation in this new devotion method. Everyone had personal insights to share and we all gained a greater understanding of the verse because of it. The verse was Romans 3:23 which was a familiar verse to start with and here are some of the thoughts that were shared from my family.
- All of society's religions or rituals are an attempt to approach God or hit the mark of righteousness, and every one of us miss. We fall short.
- Not only do we all sin, but we all fall short in our effort.
- It is not just a matter of "messing up". We are all sinners, truly sinful. Let's not minimize that.
- No one is perfect. We all need healing.
- Although we are all unique creations of God, we are bound by the commonality of our sinfulness.
What a blessing to hear these truths come from the hearts, minds, and mouths of my family. By the way, the back side of each page is for recording the thoughts from every one else. We picked a new scripture for memorization and study this week and I am really looking forward to building on this new special time of family devotion. I encourage you to bring the Bible, its reading and teaching into your family. It certainly does not have to be this way, but I am sure that if you can incorporate the Bible into your family life, there is a much greater chance that your children will incorporate it into their personal life, at least, that's my Perspective.
Now I am heading into the pool with my family. Stay safe and cool today and be sure to check on someone you know could be in danger today because of the extreme weather.