Two Little Girls in the Snow

This is not the devotional I originally planned to post today.

Even at my age, God still finds ways to both surprise and inspire me.

Thursday evening found me at my church along with a number of my friends.

We were all busy working away getting things ready for Christmas.

As we were finishing up, someone noticed that it was actually snowing outside.

Of course, we all stepped outside to take a look.

You see, it rarely snows where I live and to have snow this early in the season is rare indeed.

We went back inside and finished what we had to do.

When it came time to leave, a few of us just stood out in the cold and admired the snow.

I carefully drove home trying not to let the weather distract me.

As I got ready to turn into my drive, I noticed two little girls running around.

They were paying more attention to the snow than to my car, so I entered my drive slowly.

Their mother called them over to her allowing me to safely park my car.

In no time, the two girls returned to their celebration of the snow.

I took a moment to speak to their mother.

As we spoke, I considered what God showed me.

He showed me the white snow, the watchful eye of a loving parent and the pure joy found only in children.

He was also reminding me of the words of the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 1:18 (NET) - Come, let’s consider your options,” says the Lord. “Though your sins have stained you like the color red, you can become white like snow; though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet, you can become white like wool.

As we get deeper into the Christmas season I am reminded of the fulfilment of this prophecy.

God is our loving Father who calls us to Him to keep us safe from the world.

As we celebrate the birth of His Son, we should remember that it is Jesus who cleanses us from our sin.

Christ was the perfect sacrifice – the Lamb without blemish and without spot.

We no longer have to be stained like scarlet.

We can be made as white as snow.

Perhaps we can also take a lesson from these two little girls and their excitement.

Perhaps we should allow ourselves to get more excited about our salvation.

Perhaps that would make us more eager to share the Good News with others.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

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

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

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

Old Car Seats

I am likely revealing my age with this piece, but that’s okay.

When I was very young the seats in my parents’ car and other cars were more like benches.

Seat belts were not yet standard equipment.

Child seats had not appeared on the scene either.

It’s a wonder people my age managed to survive childhood, but survive we did.

I remember sitting in the front seat with my parents.

My father drove and was seated to my left.

Mother sat on the passenger side and was seated to my right,

I was not even big enough to see out the windshield.

My view was confined to my parents and the dashboard.

There is one other thing I do recall with great clarity,

Whenever my father would have to brake suddenly to avoid an accident there was one thing I could always count on,

My father’s right arm would immediately shoot out and go across my chest.

At the same instant, my mother’s left arm would shoot out and go across my waist.

This was a perfectly orchestrated maneuver on their part.

It happened without a single word being said between them.

It was automatic.

With their combined strength, they kept me from moving much like seatbelts do today,

Working together, they kept me safe.

In time, I realized that this was just one way in which they demonstrated their love for me.

When I was a bit older, I moved from the front seat of the car to the back seat.

Having grown I was also able to see more of the world outside the car.

One thing I noticed was that very young couples in other vehicles tended to sit right next to each other.

Slightly older couples gave each other a little more space.

Old couples (from the vantage point of a child) tended to sit far apart,

I imagine that there was a time when my own parents sat right next to each other in the car.

When I came along, they made room for me,

Even when I was old enough to sit in the back seat, my parents kept on sitting where they did before.

I was thinking about those old car seats and how parallels can be drawn to our relationship with God.

First, when I was quite young and danger threatened me in the car, my parents tried to protect me as best they could.

They wanted to make sure they did their utmost for me even if it meant a big sacrifice on their part.

God made a huge sacrifice for us when He gave His Son for us.

John 3:16 (NET) -- For this is the way God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

Second, I remembered that when couples first fell in love, it seemed they could not get close enough.

In time, space grew between them.

When we first come to know God, our love is such that we want to get as close to Him as we can.

Perhaps, over time, we may notice that we don’t seem as close as we once were.

One of us has moved,

Care to guess which one of us that was?

Psalm 136:26 (NET) - Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his loyal love endures!

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, July 21, 2017.

I will be back here on Friday, July 28, 2017

Opportunities

The church I attend just finished five days of Vacation Bible School.

This is primarily a program for children.

We also offer a class for adults.

It has been my privilege to teach the adult class for several years and I take this seriously for good reason.

James 3:1 (NET) - Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly.

One thing is certain, one must teach adults differently than one teaches children.

As human beings, we continue to grow throughout our lives.

As we grow our needs change.

You would not feed a toddler what you feed an infant.

You would not feed a teenager what you feed a toddler, and so on.

As Christians, we continue to grow as well.

Our spiritual needs change as well.

They should anyway.

Paul discovered this was not the case with the Christians in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 3:1-2 (NET) - So, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but instead as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready. In fact, you are still not ready,

Fortunately, I did not have this problem with the adults in my class.

In fact, I was able to challenge them and even gave them some things to consider on their own.

No matter how much I enjoy teaching the adult class I do miss not being around the children.

God must have known that this was on my mind.

He made it possible for me to work with some children but not in a traditional classroom setting.

When the program ended, most people went home.

A few of us remained to put things back in order.

I was busy with bigger items like tables.

Also present were a boy and his little sister.

Their mother told them to “Go help Mr. Jim.”

As they ran to me I knew this was a teaching opportunity.

I gave them some really light tasks while I continued with the bigger ones.

While we worked, I spoke with them and even made them laugh a time or two.

I must admit they made me laugh as well.

Once the work was complete, we all went our separate ways and I thought about a number of things.

First, their mother did well by encouraging them to help.

Second, I was able to teach not with words but by example.

Third, although I was busy, I made time for them.

Jesus made time for children as well.

Matthew 19:14 (NET) - But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, June 16, 2017.

I will be back here on Friday, June 23, 2017

A Family Resemblance

It still amazes me when someone I do not know walks up to me, mentions my father by name and then asks if I am his son.

A short time before Christmas I ran into an old friend who told me that he had come across an old photograph I might be interested in.

It was my good fortune to see this gentleman again just a week later.

He handed me an envelope containing the photograph he told me about previously.

I thanked him and then opened the envelope.

The photograph was very special to me.

It was taken during the 1950's when my father and one of his brothers both worked at a restaurant.

My father looked extremely young.

My father was about half my current age and his brother a few years older.

Also in the picture was the owner and some of his other employees.

That photograph has occupied my thoughts a great deal since.

I have shown this photograph to a number of people and there are some things people have been kind enough to point out.

They point out that there is a family resemblance between my father and his brother which is not surprising.

Some even say that my father and I share a resemblance.

I find this most interesting because I wear glasses, have had a beard for decades and have a large frame whereas my father was clean shaven, had no need for glasses and was a very trim gentleman.

Even though there are physical differences between us people can still see my father's characteristics in me.

Although he's been gone for a very long time and there are major differences in our appearance, I still encounter people who look at me and ask if he was my father.

Somehow, they can see past all the differences and still see a bit of my father in me.

This puts me in mind of the old hymn “They'll Know We are Christians by Our Love”.

Jesus put it this way.

John 13:35 (NIV) - "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

As Christians, that is the family resemblance we should all share.

Love not only for other Christians but for everyone.

Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV) Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, January 17, 2014.

Please enjoy the contributions of my fellow Christian bloggers while you are there!

I’ll be back here on Friday, January 24, 2014.

Pearls of Wisdom

This week marked what would have been my parents' wedding anniversary.

Dad passed away several decades ago.

Mom left this world several years ago.

I was looking at their wedding picture that was taken shortly after World War II.

How young they look in that photo.

As I studied the photograph, I found myself reflecting on the wisdom they shared with me as I grew up.

Of course there were lessons that they intentionally taught me.

That was part of their responsibility as parents.

Then there was the wisdom each imparted to me.

That was different because this they did by example and by the way each lived.

The wisdom I gained from Dad was that humor was an essential part of living.

Personally, I find a sense of humor often helps me get through my day and perhaps allows me to help others get through their day as well.

One thing I have discovered is that within every bit of humor there lies at least a grain of truth.

Scripture tells me that there are times when laughter is appropriate.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NET) – For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth.

Ecclesiastes 3:4 (NET) – A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance.

The wisdom I gained from Mom was in her gentleness.

By example, she showed me that gentleness was not a sign of weakness but a true hallmark of inner strength.

Scripture also bears that out.

James 3:17 (NET) – But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and not hypocritical.

Then, of course, I am also indebted to them for my faith.

Faith, when teamed with humor and gentleness can be quite powerful.

Perhaps the most powerful of ways is encouragement.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NET) – Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing.

Life sometimes presents us with challenges.

When they occur, I am grateful to Dad for helping me to always look for the humor in the situation.

Sometimes it is difficult to find, but I assure you it is there.

I am very grateful to Mom for helping me to be gentle with others and perhaps be a source of strength for them.

I am grateful to them both for the faith they instilled in me as was their charge.

Most of all, I thank God for them both and for showing me the wisdom of their ways.

What pearls of wisdom have you received from the special people God has placed in your life?

What can you do with them?

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, December 20, 2013.

Please enjoy the contributions of my fellow Christian bloggers while you are there!

I’ll be back here on Friday, December 27, 2013.