Christian Reflection and Prayer

 

Listen to advice and accept discipline,
and at the end you will be counted among
the wise.     Proverbs 19:20

 

“accept discipline” as referring to God-given
discipline. Oftentimes, God sends us unpleasant
circumstances in order to teach us something.
Sometimes, God gives us challenges simply so
that we might grow from them. When God sends
a lesson our way, we must accept it unconditionally.
God’s discipline will make us wiser and better.

 

Next time someone offers us advice, instead of
running from it, let’s embrace it. When we feel the
hand of God teaching us difficult lessons, let’s be
grateful for them. As it is often said, we are here to
“live and learn,” and when we do, we will live more
powerfully, make better decisions, and enjoy the
fruits of our labor.

 

With prayers for shalom, peace,

 

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
Founder and President

 

 

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm,
then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by
a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

 

Did you know that the person who said, "Give me
liberty or give me death," didn't think that our individual
freedoms, as important as they are, were the most
important thing in life,

 

In his Last Will & Testament, filed in the Brookneal
County Courthouse in Virginia, Patrick Henry noted
something especially interesting.

 

He wrote, "I have now given everything I own to my
children. There is one more thing I wish I could give
them and that is Christ. Because if they have everything
I gave them and don't have Christ, they have nothing.
" I would say that Patrick Henry understood what Paul
was talking about in Galatians 5. . He knew that there
is one thing in life that is the key to all of life: Jesus
Christ. Indeed, faith in Jesus Christ alone is that key.

 

Jesus says, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be
free indeed" (John 8:36).

 

ARE YOU FREE?

 

Dear Jesus, give us clarity of thinking to see that the
things of this life -- no matter how valuable they might
seem -- they are nothing compared to knowing and
believing in You by grace through faith. Amen!

 

(excerpts from Lutheran Hour Ministry)