Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture:

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they
shall be called the children of God.
(Matthew 5:9)

"The job of the peacemaker is to stop war,
to purify the world, to get it saved from
poverty and riches, to heal the sick, to
comfort the sad, to wake up those who
have not yet found God.

Muriel Lester
Social Activist, Gandhian Pacifist
(1883-1968)

PRAY FOR PEACE!!!!!!

God is always calling us back to him

Have You Embarrassed Your Heavenly Father?

"Such people claim they know God, but they deny
him by the way they live."
Titus 1:16 NLT

Embarrassing God

Not so long ago I saw a man shopping in a grocery
store while his young son ran up and down the aisles.
The boy was unleashed and hyper, making a complete
nuisance of himself. The father kept calling his son's
name, but the boy only ran faster — up one aisle and
down the other.

Just as the father caught up with him, the boy reached
out and grabbed a handful of candy bars. The father
tried to take them away, but the boy held on tightly.
Then he started to scream. It was a high-pitched,
piercing scream that reverberated throughout the store.
Clerks and customers turned to look from every
direction as the frustrated father tried his best to
squelch his son's cries. The boy only screamed louder
and started to kick. Finally the father let him go, and
once again he ran down the aisle with all his might,
chocolate still clutched in his greedy little grip.

I caught a glimpse of the father's face. It was the look
of complete and total embarrassment. Although I'm
sure he loved his son dearly, at this moment he was
ashamed to be his father.

Do you think God ever feels that way with his children?
Imagine how he must feel when we become so earthly
minded that we run through life, ignoring his voice and
oblivious to his warning, grabbing things as we go and
holding them tightly.

Do you think God doesn't get embarrassed by the way
his children act? Our life is a reflection of his authority.
And when we disobey, he is the One the world scoffs
at.

From Embracing Eternity by Tim LaHaye, Jerry B.
Jenkins and Frank M. Martin (Tyndale) p 148

Scripture:

Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though
He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you
by His poverty might become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9

Reflection:

The scrap metal dealer came across an interesting bauble at
a junk market. It was a three-inch high golden egg, an egg
with a watch inside.
With the hope of selling the diamond watch and the golden
egg at a profit he bought the trinket for about $14,000. Sadly,
the people to whom he tried to sell it said, "We aren't ready
to pay you that much. It's not worth it. You're stuck with the
thing."
And stuck he was.

Hoping to get proof the critical buyers were wrong, the man
searched the Internet for direction. After a while he began to
think the egg he had purchased was the one which had been
given by Tsar Alexander III to his wife as an Easter present
in 1887.
Of course, the odds against his egg being that egg were
astronomical. The egg had last been seen in Russia in 1922.
After that, it had disappeared from sight. Nobody would expect
such a treasure to end up in a junk pile. Still, what did he have
to lose by asking a few questions? Fueled by hope, the scrap
metal man took pictures of his egg to London for verification.

To his surprise, it was verified -- 100 percent-verified -- and
eventually sold for an undisclosed amount. (In 1997, a Faberge
egg, a non-imperial Faberge egg, was sold for $18.5 million.
This egg would have been sold for much, much more.)

And what does all this have to do with a Christian devotion?

Merely this: with the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
the world has been given a wonderful Easter present. Far more
precious than any Faberge egg, our gift is one which forgives us
all our sin and offers us eternal life. Sadly, as is the case for the
junkman's egg,

By the power of the Holy Spirit you have heard the story of
salvation, which God's Son has won for you at such a great cost.
Just as importantly, you recognize its importance, significance
and value. For you, the knowledge of being saved is far greater
than finding an art treasure in a junk pile.

For you the story of the Savior's sacrifice is everything.

THE PRAYER:

Dear Lord, because of Jesus I have been given riches beyond
anything this world can imagine. Grant that I may do all I can so
others might be just as rich in Jesus. In His Name. Amen.

Pastor Ken Klaus