As Good as His Word

Isaiah 40:8 (NET) - The grass dries up, the flowers wither, but the decree of our God is forever reliable.

English is not my first language.

My first language happens to be Czech because that is what my parents spoke at home.

They also tended to speak it with family and old friends.

In public, however, they spoke English so they made certain I learned that as well.

My grandparents, however, spoke Czech almost exclusively.

As I was growing up, my grandmother would send me a card on every special occasion.

The card may have been printed in English, but the sentiment my grandmother wrote was always written in Czech.

Although I could speak Czech fairly well, the written language was another matter.

I would always have to have Mom or Dad read it to me.

As the years went by, I wanted to be able to read my grandmother’s words for myself.

I asked my father to buy me a textbook on the Czech language which I studied.

Eventually I learned enough to grasp the written language.

Then I was able to read my grandmother’s words for myself.

It was one thing for Mom or Dad to tell me that my grandmother loved me.

It was another thing for me to be able to read this in her own words.

In a way, the Bible reminds me a little bit of those cards from my grandmother.

Parents, pastors, Sunday school teachers, friends and others can tell us Jesus loves us.

Through the Bible we are able to read this for ourselves.

One of the first hymns we are taught as children is Jesus Loves Me.

As adults, we still think of it as a song for children.

That is because its message is so simple.

Jesus loves me, this I know

For the Bible tells me so.

We may think that the song is for children, but it can be an excellent reminder in our adult years as well.

Matthew 24:35 (NET) - Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, October 6, 2017.

I will be back here on Friday, October 13, 2017

Blinders

Philippians 4:13 (NET) - with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I was looking at some old photographs of horses.

Some were farm horses that pulled plows.

Others were used to pull wagons or buggies in town.

Still others were bred for racing.

The one thing that they had in common was that many of them had blinders on.

I could not help but think about why.

No matter how fast or slow they travelled or how hard they worked, blinders were standard equipment.

Trainers put blinders on race horses encouraging them to stay focused on the race in front of them.

Blinders help keep work horses focused on the task at hand.

Blinders also keep horses from being distracted by their surroundings or frightened by things like traffic.

In Paul’s letter, he speaks of striving “toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

If that is the case, wouldn’t we find a set of blinders helpful ourselves?

Not necessarily.

Some blinders can be misleading.

Advertisers, for example, often try to tell us what we should want.

This can keep us from focusing on what we really need.

People we know can fit us with blinders.

They may try to get us to do or say things we know we should avoid.

Sometimes we even create blinders for ourselves.

These can keep us from seeing those in need around us.

Blinders may work well for horses, but we can certainly do without them.

Winning our race means focusing on “the upward call of God in Jesus Christ”.

It also means helping those in need around us and loving them.

We don’t need blinders to help us win our race.

2 Timothy 4:7 (NET) - I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith!

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, September 15, 2017.

I will be back here on Friday, September 22, 2017