As I start the countdown until my retirement I am beginning to reflect on the last fifty one years of my working career.  It has been a wonderful fifty one years, times of great joy and times of many disappoints, however as I look back I can truly say I have seem God’s hand in directing my path.  For if there is one thing a christian’ who truly wants God’s leading in their life, will see as they look back over the sands of time is how God has had to carry him or her though some of the rough times.

I had a great friend I looked up to in my early career who re-enforce this saying of Christ  “he that is the greatest among you let him be your servant” in my everyday actions.  Servant-hood was something I strive to achieve early in my career.   At first I believe I was great so I had to be the servant, however later on I learned it was not being great, but being Christ-like.  For when I serve as being great I was really letting everyone know my true motive of showing off how good I was; but, when I serve as being Christ-like I had a peace in my heart that passes all understanding.

Another lesson I wish I had learned early in my career was that of not judging others.  I learned later in life not to judge others, even my enemies, because just like me God was still working in their life to bring them to a closer relationship with Him. I learned late in life that I could be the instrument in a person’s life to lead them back to the way of God.

So in forty more days I will no longer have a career that will take most of my time during the week.  And yet in forty more days God I will still have the same amount of hours in a day to serve you (24).  For as I tried to lift others up everyday at work with my saying, “How is it going this beautiful, wonderful day that the Lord has given us” may I continue it when I start my 4th career.

Thank you God. for giving me a 4th career.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. As I was taking down the Christmas lights that I have on my Bluebird house stand this verse spoke to me. I have a pipe that I use to hang a bird house for attracting bluebird to nest. It was a success last year. However, at Christmas time I hang Christmas light across it to make me a multi-color Christmas tree in our front year. This year I decided that as soon as the lights were down, I would put the bluebird house back in place.
For as this verse states, to everything there is a season, and yes there is a season for putting out bluebird houses in this area. If you wait until after the first of February, there is a great chance of missing the first nesting pair of bluebirds. As these words that Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes has been written in songs and taught to many people through many commentaries the very simple essence of phase “to everything there is a time” is important.
To many times we miss out on opportunities that God has given us because we were not prepared or missed the season. As I look back on life, I can see some of the missed opportunities that I had to better serve my Lord. How shall I look at these missed opportunities? As I read II Samuel 12: 15-23 where God struck the child that Bathsheba had, and he became sick, David prayed and fasted. It was not until the child was dead that he arose, washed, and anointed and clothed himself that he came into the house of the Lord and worship. Why this change? David realized he sinned and this sin lead to missed opportunities to serve the Lord. However, David did not stop living for the Lord but kept on serving Him with this sin in the pass, but still in the memories of others.
For we can not change the pass, but we can redirect our lives back on the course that the Lord has for us. So, to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. This year I will again put out the bluebird house early and hope to have nesting birds. I learned from the pass that if I wait until March it will be too late.

Following Directions

In Genesis chapter 13 we see that God had blessed both Abram and Lot. There possessions were so great that the land could no longer support all their livestock, so Abram decided to divide the land into two areas one to the right (north) and one to the left (south).
Genesis 13:8-13
So, Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So, Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.
So, Lot chose to go east, not south or north. Abram gave Lot the right to chose but instead Lot decided that neither direction was the best and looked toward the plains of the Jordan. Lot looked and saw the things of this world and went in that direction. First pitching his tent near Sodom and as we read later moved in to Sodom and lived in their city. As we read in Genesis nineteen only Lot and his two daughters were saved when God destroyed Sodom. He lost everything but his two daughters. And then his daughters decided that they would preserve their father’s family line and gave him two sons, Moab and Ben-Ammi (the father of the Ammonites).
So be careful about going out on your own direction. It may be a slow drift, but once you set off in the wrong direction the harder it is to turn back. The key is to follow the direction God provides. In Genesis fourteen Lot could have returned to Abram, but instead returned to Sodom. Keeping God first in our lives is key to living a blameless life before God. Once your desires become focus on the things of this world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of our eyes, and the pride of life you and you do not realize that these are from the world and not from God; than your works will perish just as Lot’s did. Peter called Lot a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless who was rescued by God.
This happens to all who are truly a child of God, but who walks not in his ways. So, when we are forced to go in a new direction go forward in the path the Lord directs you instead of going into the direction that pleases the flesh, as Lot. It is the Lord who opens and closes doors, so pray and seek his will before you enter the next door that opens or closes for you.

In II Timothy 4:6-8 Paul writes these words to Timothy as he is on trial before Caesar’s court.
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
As I read these words that Paul writes to Timothy about his coming departure from this life, I realized that Paul must have known that the Lord’s return to the earth was not going to happen before his death. Last night as I was reading I Thessalonians 5:13-18 as Paul was writing to the Thessalonians about the Second Coming of Christ, I wondered why we as Christians don’t talk about His return in our everyday conversions. Yes, I am getting older, but unlike Paul my death is not interment. I am still looking for the Lord’s return. Just turn your eyes to the major events of the world especially those in the Middle East and ask yourself the question “where is this Coming he promised?”. Peter answers this question in II Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief”.
Peter’s warning to us then is to look forward to this Coming and make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with Him.

Matthew 1:18-24

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
During this Christmas time I thought about Joseph and in the role, he played in Jesus life. The thoughts that must have went through his mind when he learned the young lady he was engaged to marry was with child. We can read about how loving he must have been to protect her even when he must have felt he had been betrayed. This is against human nature; however, we see in Joseph (before the dream) a man who does not want to cause harm to Mary but quietly wants to get out of a bad situation. After the dream Joseph had the peace to take Mary as his wife. Oh, the faith that Joseph must have had to trust in a dream, but it was more than a dream because he acted upon it and made it happen.
God had a purpose for Joseph and that was to be the man who would raise Jesus. We are not told much about Joseph, but God chose him. So, at this Christmas time look to Joseph as an example to serve the Lord, quietly and behind the scene. Be the one who provides daily support to those around us. As in Joseph’s example, we need not find a purpose for our life, but just be prepare for when God choses that purpose for us we are ready. For it was God guiding Joseph in dreams in the early part of Jesus’s childhood. God spoke to them or to Joseph through dreams on when and where to move to escape Herod (Matthew 2:12,19,22). Be faithful in the small purpose that God has given you in this life.

Promises

Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ the son on David, the son of Abraham.
Luke 3:38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
We are given the genealogy of Christ in Matthew chapter one and Luke chapter three. Matthew chapter one probably is the genealogy of Joseph and Luke chapter three that of Christ through Mary’s line. The difference is that Joseph lines is traced from Abraham to David and through David’s son Solomon, and Mary’s line is trace from Adam to David and then from David’s son Nathan. God kept his promise to Adam, Abraham, and to David. He also kept his promise that Jeremiah made to Jehoiakim and Jechoniah that their descendants would not sit on the throne of David.
Promise:
Genesis 3:14, 15
And the LORD God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Genesis 12 1-3
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curse thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
II Samuel 7:14-17
He shall build a house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

Jeremiah 22:24-30
As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fears, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die. But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return. Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. Thus, saith the LORD, write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.
God kept His promises to these four men through the birth of Christ. However, as we enter this Christmas season, we must look at one more promise found in John 3:10-21. This promise was given to everyone who believes in Christ to receive the gift of God (eternal life). This is one promise that no one should turn down, but many do. This is the Christmas message.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Philippians 3:7

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ”

In Philippians chapter three Paul describes his heritage, training, and the great achievement he had as a Pharisee. They were remarkable, and yet he counts them loss for the knowledge of Christ. Paul had to unlearn the former way of life which is not an easy task. One of the reasons I believe that Paul spend three years of his early ministry in Arabia was to take all his early training and apply the new understanding of Christ to his training. It was probably in these three years that God through his spirit opened the old testament scriptures to Paul to an understanding that changed his walk forever.

It is amazing once we truly seek God and began our journey with Christ as our Lord and Savior how many of our past beliefs just fade away. As we grow in Christ the things of this world are not as important as they once were. Our focus becomes on the things of heaven and presenting the gospel to these of a lost world that does not know Christ. To Paul his past was counted as lost because he found the gift of eternal life. Sometimes we like Paul must get away and let the Holy Spirit works through the scriptures to get us to go in a new direction.

So that Men are without Excuse

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what is made, so that men are without excuse.

A story was told of a man who life’s purpose was to seek after truth but after he found it, he turned away and followed his our heart. This is the story of the men that Paul describes in Romans chapter one.  Paul’s purpose was to present the gospel of God to all, but not all believe.  As we go forth on our journey in this life, we must realize that all men and women will be without excuse on the day of judgment.  We must present the simple truth of the gospel as Paul writes in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

What happens to those that reject the gospel? Their life becomes their own, they become the one who controls every aspect of their life. They become wise in their own eyes, but their hearts become darken and they become fools before God.  God then gives them over to the sinful desires of their hearts.  To me this means God steps out of their life.

Another story was told of a man who life’s purpose was to seek after truth, and when he found it, he realized his sinful nature. But he also found the way of salvation from God.  He could now be made righteous by placing his faith in Jesus Christ.  This was why we live a daily lifestyle that reflects Christ in us as our hope in glory.

There is only two ways. As in Psalm chapter one there is the way of the Righteous or the way of the wicked.  Which story will reflect your life?  The choose is yours.

Set apart from Birth

Paul in Galatians 1:15-17 states “But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.” Paul realized that his life was always in God’s hands.  Just as God had chosen the parents of John the Baptist and of Jesus, he also placed Paul in the family in which he would get all the training he needed for the purpose of preaching Christ to the Gentiles.

As I study Paul’s writings, I realized that his one true passion was to preach the gospel of Christ. And when this gospel is presented and believed not only is eternal life guarantee, but a change also takes place in the new believer’s life.  As I study the scriptures it is amazing how God prepares individuals for His purpose. The way of God is beyond our understanding in how He works in His creation.  As Paul realized that his life was always in God’s hand, we as believers must also believe the same.

As we make our journey in this life, we can touch so many lives. Is the presentation of the gospel our one true passion? Is our true focus serving the Lord? Is today a wonderful, beautiful, outstanding day that the Lord has given you no matter the situations around you? God’s message for the world is found in John 3:16 and His patient in this world is not wanting anyone to perish, but for everyone to come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). Do we reflect the gospel of Christ in our daily walk to others