Being Witnesses

 

Isaiah 43:10 (NRSVue) - You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.

In this chapter, Isaiah is taken to Egypt where he warns of judgment.

But the Lord reminds Isaiah that he is God’s witness and His servant.

In the opening of Acts, just prior to the ascension of Jesus, His followers are promised of the coming of the Holy Spirit.

They are assured that this will bring them power.

They are also reminded of their role as witnesses.

Acts 1:8 (NRSVue) - But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Those who follow Christ today continue this mission.

We are obligated to bear witness to those around us.

We can do this through our words.

But we are more effective witnesses through our actions.

We must also never forget who the source of our witness is.

Christ is the vine.

We are the branches.

John 15:5 (NRSVue) - I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

As stated, we are obligated to deliver the message; to share it through word and deed with those we encounter.

Scripture also reminds us that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 

But as we fulfill our commission, let us remember His grace and His presence.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com on Friday, November 1, 2024.

I will be back here on Friday, November 8, 2024

Forgive, and Be Forgiven

 

Jeremiah 14:7 (NRSVue) - Although our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name’s sake; our rebellions indeed are many, and we have sinned against you.

Jeremiah 14 is about a great drought.

The containers are empty.

The ground is cracked.

The animals suffer.

Even the people cry out.

The prophet admits that the people are rebellious, and their sins are many.

In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches His followers how they should pray.

He follows this prayer with a word of caution.

For one to be forgiven, one must be willing to forgive.

Matthew 6:14 (NRSVue) - For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,

Like the people of Jeremiah’s day, we too are sinful and rebellious.

We wish to be forgiven.

But to be forgiven, we must be willing to forgive.

Honestly, this is something that even Christians struggle with.

But to forgive is far from impossible.

We do not have to rely on our strength alone to forgive.

God can help us to be forgiving.

And when we turn to Him in this manner, He reminds us that in forgiving we are forgiven.

Christ gave us the best example of forgiveness during His crucifixion.

Luke 23:34 (NRSVue) - Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they cast lots to divide his clothing.

If Christ could forgive so much, shouldn’t we be willing to forgive so little?

 

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com on Friday, October 18, 2024.

I will be back here on Friday, October 25, 2024

Expressing Proper Gratitude

 

Job 9:8-9 (NIV) - He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

In this chapter, Job responds to his friend Bildad the Shuhite.

Job recognizes God’s role as the creator of the universe.

I find it fascinating that Job mentions the names of the constellations.

God set these forth in the night sky from the beginning.

God created them before man gave them names and used them for navigation, time keeping and more.

Paul, in his first letter to Corinth, discusses food offered to idols.

He writes about those who worship many gods.

Paul then reminds his readers whom they worship and why.

1 Corinthians 8:6 (NRSVue) - yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

I find it interesting that Paul uses the words “from whom” and “for whom” in relation to God.

Paul then uses “through whom” in relation to Christ.

God has indeed created a wonderful universe.

God also created life and, by extension, us.

God also created all things that sustain physical life,

This was an expression of God’s love for us, and we should be grateful.

But God also expressed his love for us “through” Christ.

For it is through Christ that we are saved.

This was the ultimate expression of God’s love for us,

For this, we should be extremely grateful.

We should also take the time to say, “Thank you!”

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com on Friday, October 4, 2024.

I will be back here on Friday, October 11, 2024

The Right Choices

 

Psalm 51:10 (NRSVue) - Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

Psalm 51 is a prayer for cleansing and pardon.

The psalmist asks for mercy.

He also asks to be cleansed of sin.

He even admits to being a sinner from the moment of his conception.

Then comes a crucial moment.

The psalmist asks to be made a new creation.

When Paul writes to Timothy, he warns of false teachers.

Paul warns, these teachers “promote speculations rather than the divine training.”

Such teaching is not derived from faith.

1 Timothy 1:5 (NRSVue) - But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.

Where is this leading?

In the case of one seeking cleansing and pardon, a definite change is required.

Doing the right thing is not enough in and of itself.

As for Paul’s words, we live in an age of information.

One does not have to go far to see or hear a sermon.

We can partake of these on television or through our cell phones.

For those who still read, one need only go to a bookstore or shop online.

There, we will see countless books whose authors smile at us from their covers.

Many of these authors proclaim to teach the truth.

But it is left for us to discern just how true their teaching is.

Is the message designed solely to encourage?

How much of this message is speculation as opposed to divine training?

Is the message one of ease, comfort, or prosperity?

Or does the message require a sincere change of heart?

Fortunately, we do not have to navigate this terrain alone.

If we find ourselves wanting to do the right thing, we should ask ourselves why?

Is this desire to do the right thing born in the moment?

Or is God trying to bring about a definite change of heart within us?

If the latter is the case, we can trust God to complete the change He began.

God will even provide us with teachers whose instruction is born from faith and not speculation.

The journey is a long and sometimes difficult one.

In fact, it can be painful at times.

But from beginning to end, God guides us on this journey of change.

He helps us make the right choices for the right reasons.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com on Friday, September 20, 2024.

I will be back here on Friday, September 27, 2024

The Power of Love

 

Psalm 37:8 (NRSVue) - Refrain from anger and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it leads only to evil.

Here, the Psalmist encourages both patience and trust.

To do that, we must put aside anger,

We must not give in to fear.

For human beings, this is easier said than done.

Fortunately for us, we do not have to do this on our own,

Paul understood this when he wrote to the Thessalonians.

Paul encouraged them with his blessing.

1 Thessalonians 5:15 (NRSVue) - See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.

When people feel wronged, their first reaction is to avenge themselves by striking back.

But that is the conditioning of the world.

That is not the way God designed us to live.

We were designed to love.

We were created to forego vengeance,

Christ tells us to love God.

Christ also tells us to love our neighbor.

But we cannot love completely on our own.

We only experience complete love when we have been made anew.

That is when we truly welcome God’s love into our hearts.

We then understand that God loves our neighbor.

God even loves those whom we feel have wronged us.

True love is the key.

Paul reminds us of this too,

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NRSVue) - And now faith, hope, and love remain, these three, and the greatest of these is love.

May we take these words to heart.

May we share the love God has for us with others.

May we remember that God loves them as well.

 

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com on Friday, September 6, 2024.

I will be back here on Friday, September 13, 2024

Making Introductions

 

Ezekiel 20:44 (NRSVue) - And you shall know that I am the Lord when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways or corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, says the Lord God.

Here, the prophet tells the people that God will restore them.

Once restored, they will realize that they were not restored through their actions.

The people will acknowledge that it was God who restored them.

In Paul’s letter to Rome, he speaks of justification.

In particular, he writes of the implications for the justified.

Paul concludes this section with a reminder.

The believers in Rome were not justified by their actions.

They were justified by God’s love and Christ’s willing sacrifice.

Romans 5:8 (NRSVue) - But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

Wherever we may be on our spiritual journey, God meets us where we are.

His love for us endures even when we are far away from Him.

And, when we let Him, God leads us into that essential personal relationship with Christ.

This is the moment when we are restored.

This is the moment when we are justified,

In other words, our lives will never be the same as they once were.

Transformed, we set about to do the work He places before us,

Moreover, He equips us for the journey ahead,

He starts by enabling us to listen.

From there, we become more compassionate with our fellow man,

We even learn what it means to truly forgive,

After all, God was compassionate with us.

Through Christ we were forgiven.

There is no shortage of people in need of restoration.

Perhaps they feel they can never be justified.

To be clear, we can neither restore nor justify others.

We could not even do these things for ourselves.

But we can introduce them to the One who does both.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com on Friday, August 16, 2024.

I will be back here on Friday, August 23, 2024

A New Heaven, a New Earth, and a New Us

 

Isaiah 65:17 (NRSVue) - For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.

Here, the prophet speaks of God’s new creation.

This will be completely new.

Nothing will remain as it was before.

This creation will be so new that we will not think of the former one.

In Revelation, John experienced a vision of this new creation.

Revelation 21:1 (NRSVue) - Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

Scripture reminds us more than once that this will happen.

To some, this seems unlikely.

To others, this seems impossible.

But to the believer, this is a promise.

And the believer has concrete proof that a new creation is possible.

In fact, a new creation is more than probable.

The believer simply needs to look inward to recognize that he or she is already a new creation.

The believer understands that he or she is not the person they once were.

If God can transform our lives, He can also transform the lives of others.

Could it be that this transformation of lives will be part of the new heaven and the new earth?

It is.

God is at work transforming us into who He wants us to be.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com on Friday, August 2, 2024.

I will be back here on Friday, August 9, 2024