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Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 The lure of happiness may be one of the most insidious devices of the devil. Webster defines happy as 1) favored by circumstances; lucky; fortunate; 2) having, showing, or causing a feeling of great pleasure, contentment, joy, etc. It is the world’s (i.e. the devil’s) constant theme that a person should pursue what makes him/her happy. So an individual immerses their self in those things which are perceived to provide this feeling of joy and pleasure. For example, if it’s the “stuff” of life which we think will bring us happiness (whether in the form of fun, comfort, status, or popularity) then money becomes a key for bringing us the “stuff” - bling, flashy cars, trendy clothes, latest video game, etc. But in time (maybe even a few months), that hot-off-the-showroom-floor crossover which was to be the “best thing ever” begins to lose its luster and appeal - especially when those newer models come out with more bells & whistles promising more horses under the hood, fewer stops at the pump, and a better financing arrangement. Happiness now takes on a new look. And so it goes as the illusive “blue bird of happiness” flits from limb to limb mocking the one who tries so desperately to catch it. How insightful and wise was Solomon! (Ecclesiastes 5:10-12) The Holy Spirit has a much richer word for “happiness,” and that is blessedness. This is a full and satisfying state of inner joy which can only come from God, the One who knows exactly how to bring every one of us peace and contentment. God invited the thirsty to come to Him and buy water, wine and milk without money! (Isaiah 55:1) Jesus said that He was the bread of life (John 6:35), and He cried out in the temple that if anyone was thirsty they should come to Him and drink (John 7:37). These verses along with many others point humanity to that which only can satisfy its deep hungers and desires and bring more than elusive happiness, even a rich blessedness - the true and living God and His Son Jesus.

Psalm 139:13-16; Proverbs 6:16-17 Let’s say that you had a canvas on an easel in some corner of your home, and you had begun painting a scene on that canvas. You had laid in some background, hills and trees, and were just starting to put in the little cottage which was to be the centerpiece of your picture. Let’s say I came into your home and grabbed the canvas, broke the frame, threw it on the floor and stomped all over it. Would you be upset with me for destroying your painting? Let’s say that you had started to make your Mom’s recipe for lasagna. You had all the noodles boiled and had begun layering them in the pan with the cheese and her special blend of sausage and seasonings. Let’s say I came into your kitchen and took the pan and dumped out its contents onto the floor. Would you be upset with me for ruining your lasagna? Let’s say that you had poured the footer and the concrete floor for your new garage. You had laid up the cement block and had it almost framed up. Let’s say I came over to your place with a bulldozer, knocked the whole thing flat and ran my dozer all over it. Would you be upset with me for demolishing your garage? Let’s say that you were putting in a vegetable garden. You had planted seed and set out some seedlings. The beans were up, and so were the peas, carrots, and lettuce. The peppers were taking root. Let’s say I came over to your yard and dug up all the plants, piled them in a heap, poured gasoline on them and burned them all. Would you be upset with me for wiping out your garden? Let’s say that God had begun carefully and lovingly to create a child in its mother’s womb. He had fashioned its various parts and was knitting them all together: a tiny head, hands, feet and body. The heart was beating the rhythm of life. He was weaving it ever so intricately to be a one of a kind masterpiece of human life. Let’s say a doctor intruded into God’s workshop and tore that little body limb from limb and dragged those parts out of its mother. Do you think God would be upset about the killing of His baby?

1 Corinthians 15:58 Scripture contains numerous exhortations and words of encouragement for living the Christian life. There are sentiments about loving others, service, good works, resisting temptation and a host of other aspects of righteous living. When I consider this subject of “pressing on” in the faith, three words come to my mind: endurance, steadfastness and perseverance. These words are very similar in meaning, but to me each one carries a bit of a different idea about what it means to continue to follow Jesus. Maybe I’m “slicing these a bit too thin,” but here are my thoughts. Endurance tells me there is something to be endured. The devil continually opposes us. Temptations are all over. Persecution is real. Troubles and hardships of all sorts proliferate. Our own sins trip us up. So we must endure all of these types of things. We will be hurt, we will be disappointed, we will be beat upon, we will be pummeled by the adversities of life - so we must endure the pain. Steadfastness tells me that when any of these troubles are pounding on me, that I must not be moved. Like a tree bending in a gale but not breaking. Like a seawall holding up during the pounding of the waves. During such times, I will remain faithful to the Lord. I will hold to His word of truth. I will not blame Him nor rail against Him for my troubles. I will honor my covenants. I will not be moved. Perseverance tells me that despite such adversities and troubles of life, I will continue to “fight the good fight of faith.” I will continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus. I will continue to serve, to help, to worship and to tell the gospel story. I will be renewed day by day. I will not quit, but rely upon the power of the Holy Spirit and the example of my Lord to move me forward. When adversity and temptation come our way, we must endure the affliction, be steadfast in our faith and continue to persevere in the fight. The Lord Jesus set this example for us. As His disciples we follow in His steps. He is faithful in helping us press on.

Philippians 2:3-4 “Look at me, Daddy! Look at me. Mommy, look at me! We have all heard little ones excitedly call out to their parents to watch them in some daring feat of acrobatics or stupendous moment of showmanship. They want recognition and approval, and they need it - lots of it. It’s an aspect of being loved. However, as the family grows, children must adjust to the arrival of siblings. No longer does one child receive all the attention and all the hugs from Mom and Dad. What once belonged exclusively to one child must now be shared. Even children without brothers or sisters encounter this situation with classmates in school, and every person soon learns that in the various spheres in which we function (work, recreation, church, etc.) that recognition must often be shared and even set aside at times in favor of others. Brother Jim McGuiggan has written this: “To know that your friend (or your God) cannot treat you as if your were the only person alive and to submit graciously to that truth is inspirational living.” What a great insight! Other people need to be loved besides myself. Other people have interests besides me. Others have feelings. Others have true needs. And as a Christian I am called by my Lord to step aside at times and allow the needs and interests of others to be taken care of. Yes, and sometimes I am even called to be the one to help take care of those needs of others! - even as I am desperately seeking recognition myself. To deny self is rarely an easy task. Paul put it another way: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” “O, Father, please help me to dethrone myself from my heart and firmly enthrone Jesus there so that He might direct me and help me to love others who have needs and interests as I do. In the name of the One who set aside His own privileges to take care of our need for saving grace. Amen.”

Ephesians 4:20-24, 28 Change is a scary word to most people. Folks live in their “comfort zones” and routines, and they get very uncomfortable (even fearful) when anything changes. But when a person comes face to face with Jesus Christ and sees his or her sins and faults for what they are, he/she realizes that change must come. Becoming a Christian involves more than receiving forgiveness for sins and going to church. True repentance is needed which leads to a life transformed into the image of the Son of God. Paul uses the picture of putting off the old man and putting on the new as he writes about this necessary change in Christ. Let’s take the thief, for example. He specifically tells the thief that he must stop stealing. This seems so obvious we wonder why it is even said, but when we reflect it becomes clear. Some people want to continue in their sinful ways and expect Christ to just keep forgiving them! Sin and evil of every sort must be forsaken. But simply removing sinful conduct is not enough. Christ looks the thief in the eye and says, “There is more.” The thief is to replace stealing with honest work. Good is to replace evil. One’s life must reflect the teaching and life of Christ. For the thief, he has to learn to work and be responsible. The liar must learn to tell the truth. The adulterer must learn faithfulness. Put off - put on. But Jesus is not done with the thief. The thief has pursued a lifestyle of taking from others for himself. As with all of us sinners, he has a heart problem as well. What if he works hard but consumes everything he makes on himself? This would not be like Christ. So the final instruction for the thief is that some of his honest work must go toward sharing with those in need. The thief must be “renewed in the spirit of ‘his’ mind” and learn to look beyond himself, jettison selfishness, and put on love and compassion. Putting off the old self with its corrupt ways can be a challenge, but Christ will help us get it done. He has the power!

Genesis 5:21-24; Hebrews 11:5 The LORD: Did you see the sunrise this morning, Enoch? Enoch: Yes, Lord - magnificent! But that sunset last Tuesday was just incredible. How do you do that? Well, that’s a stupid question, isn’t it? The LORD: Someday, I’ll show you how it’s done. And how’s the family? Enoch: Lord, you know. You know all things. We’re having some trouble with Abijam, but we think he’ll be OK. The LORD: I am really pleased with how you and your wife are bringing up your children. Enoch: Well, it takes a lot of work with all of the wickedness around, but we want them all to know you. The LORD: The wickedness is going to get a lot worse. Enoch: Lord, why will you let that happen? Things are so bad now, and so many people get hurt. The LORD: I have my reasons. Someday I’ll tell you. Enoch: What will happen to my children? The LORD: You have taught them well, but they will each make their own choices as you have. Enoch: Seeing all the evil in the world and the trouble which people are causing for others and bringing on themselves just torments my soul every day. The LORD: I know. Enoch: Of course you do. The LORD: How would you like to leave it all behind? Enoch: Well, I’ll do that when I die. The LORD: You won’t have to die. Enoch: What do you mean? Can you do that? The LORD: Enoch... Enoch: I know - another stupid question. You are God. The LORD: Enoch, come here. Let’s go home.

Mark 10:46-52 Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem for the final time. It would be His ultimate test when He would face His cross and be offered as the Lamb of God for the sins of the world. He had been telling of these events to His apostles, but they had been unable to grasp what it all meant (Mark 9:31-32; 10:32-34). To the amazement of His disciples, Jesus was pressing on to Jerusalem. They knew He faced danger there; He knew He had to die there. So what happens on the road up from Jericho surprises us on the one hand, but it doesn’t surprise us on the other. The blind beggar Bartimaeus calls out to “Jesus, Son of David” from his place by the road. Many in the crowd with Jesus try to shut him up, but he calls out all the more. Now on the one hand, we might expect Jesus to just keep going since He was approaching the most important challenge of His life and would not want to be distracted from it. On the other hand, we see the heart of the Son of God respond to this poor blind man of faith. Jesus stopped, interacted with Bartimaeus and returned his sight to him. Compassion in the face of duty. Love interrupting a defined schedule. We would expect no less from our Lord. But do we expect less of ourselves? Most of us begin a day with a routine of some sort. Then, we usually have some kind of schedule we want to keep or “to do” list for the day. So we get started on the things we want to get done, and then God interrupts. It might be a phone call, a text or a knock at the door. Maybe, “out of the blue,” some words from the preacher’s lesson pops into our head, or it’s words from a scripture we read earlier. Perhaps the announcement about a sick brother or sister comes into our mind. There is a need of some kind, and we have been chosen by God to be involved. God has interrupted our day! This has happened to all of us. What do you do? Ignore it? Run from it? Pass it off? Are you just “too busy?” Or do you pause, pray, listen and investigate? Do you see that God is calling you to do something good? How do you answer?

Luke 20:1-2 If you haven’t noticed, God is big on authority. He is, of course, THE AUTHORITY in all the universe in all things. Nothing in nature functions except by the authority of the Almighty - sun, moon, stars, the earth, light, blue jays, bears, butterflies, big fin tuna, earthworms, flies, wind, rain, clouds, oceans, atoms, cells, et al. He has established how they function, and they cannot go beyond those boundaries. Only man has been given the choice as to whether to question the authority of God. Man’s questioning of God’s authority began in the garden of Eden and has been happening ever since. When Jesus had come into Jerusalem that final week and had driven the money-changers and sellers out of the temple He created quite a stir. The temple authorities then came to Him with this question: “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” Jesus answered their question with a question of His own, not wanting to fall into their little trap. However, the question itself is a legitimate one we need to ask. In my own life, do I have the authority of God to do what I do? When I gossip and repeat stuff, do I have the authority of God? When I treat my wife like a household servant, do I do that with the authority of God? When I make fun of my husband behind his back, do I have the authority of God? When as a father, I leave the child rearing to my children’s mother, do I have the authority of God? When I tell someone they don’t need to be baptized into Christ to be saved, do I do that with the authority of God? We could go on. On the other hand, do I resist the authority of God in any way? When the word teaches me to go on to perfection, and I’m not trying to do that, do I not resist the authority of God? When I’m taught to pray without ceasing and I’m not doing that, am I not resisting God’s authority? When the word says to tell the good news and I ignore the lost, what does that say about me and God’s authority? Hmmm?

2 Peter 3:17-18 Well another year is upon us. We could write another piece about making resolutions, but if you are a Christian, you should be continuously reevaluating your walk with Jesus and making changes. Peter’s words about growing “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” are not tied to certain times of the year. Christians are regularly dispensing with “the old” (the sinful, the wasteful, the unfruitful, the childish, the selfish, the lackluster, etc.) and putting on “the new” (the righteous, the fruitful, the God-honoring, the holy, the mature, the whole-hearted, etc.). It is simply a way of life, the Way of Christ. Let’s pause to reflect on two things about the past year. First, how did the Lord bless you last year? •Did you have food to eat? Clothes to wear? A place to sleep? •Did you have good health? When you had an illness or surgery, did God provide and bring you through it? •Did the Lord answer your prayers? •Did the Father forgive the sins you confessed to Him and of which you repented? •Did the Holy Spirit guide you? •Did God rescind any of His promises He has made to you? Second, how did you, in turn, bless others? •Did you help feed and clothe others? •Did you visit, comfort and pray for the sick? •Did you get reconciled to that person whom you were distant from but should not have been? •Were you in prayer for all men and especially the saints? •Did you teach anyone about Jesus and His gospel? •Did you stand for righteousness and oppose evil? Such an exercise will help us reflect upon some critical realities of the past year as we move into 2020. What did you see?

Proverbs 18:21 Words have meaning. Our words are powerful to bring about good or to cause evil. Too often we use our words in useless banter and aimless talk which accomplish nothing of any real importance. People who are under the influence of the devil use their words as defense mechanisms to keep Jesus and His gospel away from themselves. If you’ve tried to talk with someone about Jesus and His gift of life, you may have heard words like these: •“I’m beyond help.” •“Leave me alone. I’m okay.” •“You’re nothing but a Jesus freak.” •“I don’t want to be someone’s project.” •“I hate your kind.” •“Don’t want to talk about it.” •“You’re a Bible-thumping idiot.” •“You think you’re better than me.” •“That’s all a bunch of hog wash.” •“Not now. Come back in ten years.” •“Been there. Done that.” •“You’re all a bunch of hypocrites.” •“Isn’t God dead?” •“Are there still people who believe all that stuff?” Of course, many of these responses are complete with numerous expletives and profanities. The servant of Christ must be able to see through these “smoke screens” of words to a heart and soul which is hurting and in dire need of Jesus’ saving and transforming power. We must have the love for God and the Lord Jesus to talk of His grace to all people. We must have the love, patience, and faith to bring them face to face with Jesus and His saving and transforming gospel. We must be able to endure their negative and hateful words in order to bring them the words of life.

Acts 13:9 Most of us know him as the apostle Paul, but he was using the name Saul when we first encounter him in scripture as a zealous Pharisee who was persecuting the church (Acts 9:1-2). It’s obvious that he didn’t believe that Jesus was the Christ. But Jesus appeared to Saul while he was traveling to Damascus to wreak more havoc on the disciples, and he became a believer in the Lord, was baptized, and accepted the commission which Jesus gave to him - to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (non-Jews). Some people have suggested, and you may have heard it taught that Saul’s name was changed to Paul as a result of his conversion. Is this true? What do we know? Here’s what we know as a fact: “But Saul, who was also known as Paul...” (Acts 13:9). That’s it! Do we know how it came about that he had these two names? No. But here are some possibilities. First: Jesus may have given him the name Paul after his conversion. Some have said this. Jesus gave the name “Cephas” (Peter) to Simon (John 1:42). But there is nothing in scripture to support that Jesus did a similar thing with Saul. Second: Saul may have had both names from birth. Saul is very much a Hebrew name, and Paul is more Greek/Roman. Saul was born a Roman citizen (Acts 22:28), so it would be no surprise that he always had these two names. This presents two possibilities: 1) He chose to use the name Paul after his conversion to disassociate himself from his former life when he was known as Saul the one who persecuted the church. 2) He chose to use his Greek/Roman name when he began his mission among the Gentiles to be more readily heard and accepted among them. Whatever the case was (and it may have been something else entirely), we don’t know what caused Saul to start using the name Paul. We only know that he did. ><> Jeff

Proverbs 10:8, 12:15, 13:16 Some of the things I see people doing I don’t understand. Believe me, I’m not implying that I have the answers to everything nor that life is a “one size fits all” proposition. But I think you, too, have observed some things which people do and have thought like me: “I don’t get it!” For instance, I don’t get it when people weave in and out of traffic at high speeds. The risks involved with such driving tactics far outweigh any gains. I don’t get it when people tailgate. I am looking for the bumper sticker which says: Please Respect My Right to Drive the Speed Limit. And in how many accounts of fatal accidents do we read/hear: “The victim was not wearing a seat belt.” “I don’t get it.” Here’s one I have observed more than once: While the bank is open, someone is pulled up to the ATM to get cash when a fee is almost always charged for such transactions. “I don’t get it!” I don’t understand the Christian who feels left out from the rest of the congregation but never participates in any of the fellowship or ministries. I don’t understand the Christian who doesn’t feel close to God, but whose Bible lays closed all week and whose lips never speak a prayer. I don’t get it when people claim to be Christian, but whose lives look and sound no different from their worldly neighbors. Solomon wrote much about “fools” by which he meant those who did not heed God’s wisdom and instruction. He said that their way was right in their own eyes, and that no one could teach them anything. On the other hand, the wise person was always open to instruction and actually applied wisdom and knowledge to what they did in life. He also said that for failing to receive instruction the fool would “be ruined.” Made up minds - closed ears - tradition bound - “I’ll do it my way” - “We’ve always done it this way” - rushing through life in a rut - ignoring God’s plain teachings... “I don’t get it.” Do you get it?