Roles

1 Peter 4:10 (NET) - Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

Every church loves to have visitors.

My church is certainly no exception,

Returning visitors are a special blessing.

I was doing my very best to welcome a returning visitor.

One of his questions took me by surprise.

“What is your role in the church?”

There really is no easy answer to this question.

Just like many people who attend church, I have taken on a number of roles over the years.

God blesses each of us with different talents.

He has also gives us different passions for service.

We each utilize our particular combinations of gifts and passions to fill a number of roles.

This is how the work of the church gets done.

I wish the world outside the church would adopt a similar attitude.

Often in the secular world have I have asked for assistance.

How disappointed I am when the response I receive is: “That’s not my job.”

In most cases, people in the church are happy to help out.

If unable to help, they can usually direct you to someone who can.

None of us can do everything.

Each of us is capable of doing some things.

Working together and combining our abilities is how the work of the church gets done.

This also helps us in another way.

We strengthen our existing skills and might even learn new ones.

That is how we grow as a Christians.

God blesses us.

Motivated by love, we then serve both God and others.

Hebrews 6:10-12 (NET) - For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints. But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, August 18, 2017.

I will be back here on Friday, August 25, 2017

Obedience

We are in the process of being perfected.

This is a process that continues throughout our lives.

Philippians 3:12 (NET) - Not that I have already attained this—that is, I have not already been perfected—but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me.

So, we are not yet perfect.

Can we at least say that we are good?

Not according to scripture.

Psalm 53:2-3 (NET) - God looks down from heaven at the human race, to see if there is anyone who is wise and seeks God. Everyone rejects God; they are all morally corrupt. None of them does what is right, not even one!

Jesus said as much to a rich man.

Mark 10:19 (NET) - Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

I will fall short as a human being even on my best days.

Perhaps I will say or do the wrong thing.

More likely, I will probably fail to do the right thing.

I might not even be aware of it.

That is one reason why obedience is so important.

It might be impossible for us to be good, but it is always possible to obey.

Peter and his brother Andrew were fishing one day when Jesus called them.

Matthew 4:19-20 (NET) - He said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” They left their nets immediately and followed him.

James and John were called to obey while assisting their father.

Matthew 4:21-22 (NET) - Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Then he called them. They immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.

Not only did these men leave their lives as they had known them, they did so “immediately”.

That is obedience.

The rich man heard the call and ignored it.

Mark 10:21-22 (NET) - As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But at this statement, the man looked sad and went away sorrowful, for he was very rich.

Others hear the call and try to place conditions on their obedience.

Luke 9 61-62 (NET) - Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Complete goodness may be impossible for us in our present state.

Obedience is possible.

Obedience is a matter of choice.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, May 5, 2017.

I will be back here on Friday, May 12, 2017

No Matter Where You Are

This time of year always causes me to reflect on change.

In the Northern Hemisphere we are now into fall.

Leaves are turning various shades of brown, red and yellow.

Soon the ground will be covered with them,

The temperature is also growing milder and this serves to remind me that winter is not too far away,

The opposite is true in the Southern Hemisphere where spring is in the air.

Winter is releasing its hold on that part of the world.

Everything there is once again turning green with the promise of renewed life.

To our way of thinking, changes of this kind seems gradual.

It takes an entire year to complete the cycle of seasons.

Other changes take place both more quickly and more often.

This is true when we change directions from North and South to East and West.

Half the globe is experiencing day and the other half night in a cycle.

It takes only 24 hours to complete this cycle.

These are changes with which we are somewhat aware.

Yet there are some things of which we are not aware at all.

You may need to sit completely still for this next part.

The speed at which the Earth rotates about its axis is close to 1000 miles per hour (1600 km/hr) at the equator.

The speed at which the Earth travels around the Sun is an incredible 66,000 miles per hour (107,000 km/hr).

The Sun (along with the Earth) is travelling around the galaxy at a staggering 483,000 miles per hour (792,000 km/hr)!

Just how fast is the galaxy moving (along with the Earth)? This speed turns out to be an astounding 1.3 million miles per hour (2.1 million km/hr)!

You see, even when you are sitting completely still you are still travelling at an incredible rate of speed even though you are not even the slightest bit aware of it.

Day or night, spring or fall, or even where you in the universe at any given moment based on its various speeds, God knows exactly where you are and what is going on in your life.

He not only knows; He cares.

Joshua 1:9 (NET) - I repeat, be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.”

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, October 16, 2015.

I’ll be back here on Friday, October 23, 2015

One Now at a Time

The events of the last week reminded me of one of my mother's favorite songs.

Many times I would hear her either singing or humming One Day At a Time.

There is a tremendous amount of wisdom in those words.

When you get down to it, life is best lived that way.

As human beings, we go about our lives traveling along a perceived time line.

Speaking along such a line, we divide time into three components.

The first component of time is the past.

The past is not only confined to our lives but includes everything that preceded it.

All of recorded history lies in the past.

The past is something from which we should be able to learn yet human beings have a tendency to repeat mistakes.

We repeat not only our mistakes but those of previous generations as well.

The second component is the present.

This is the most fleeting component of all.

Try saying the word "Now".

By the time you have finished saying this tiny word, the moment in which you said it has already slipped into the past.

That leaves us with the third and final component, what we call the future.

As human beings, we have little idea what lies in store for us in this mysterious realm.

We may plan for certain events.

We even fill our calendars with appointments and special events.

We even make long term plans for ourselves.

But, in the final analysis, we cannot say with absolute certainty what will occur in the future.

To further complicate matters, we do not just how each appointment, event or plan will ultimately turn out if they do manage to materialize on time.

Will we like the outcome?

Or, will we dislike it maybe to the point of wishing it had never occurred?

We simply will not know until the moment unfolds.

There is something we can count on.

God is not confined to the time line to which we have attached our lives.

He is outside time.

It may be difficult for us to comprehend, but God is already in tomorrow.

God is with us now, but He is also awaiting us in the tomorrow in which we have yet to see.

Whatever tomorrow brings, God already knows about it and will see us through it.

That is something in which we can take great comfort.

We cannot change the past.

We can only imagine the future.

All we truly have is the ever fleeting "now".

So, take one "now" at a time and use it in a way that glorifies Him.

Romans 15:5-6 (NET) - Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The  Other Brother Jim
Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, August 15, 2014.
I’All be back here on Friday, August 8, 2014

Prayer Revisited

I recently had the privilege of leading two adult classes on the topic of prayer.

Prior to leading those classes I posted a blog on my other site entitled Teach Us to Pray.

There I cited the examples Jesus gave us on the proper approach to God in prayer as well as the model He gave us which we now lovingly refer to as The Lord's Prayer.

In this post I thought would expand on the topic of prayer based not only on the curriculum but also from feedback I received from those in attendance.

To begin with, I still maintain my position that prayer is much more than "praying big" to God whose power is limitless.

Prayer remains one of the best means we have of strengthening our relationship with God and not merely a means by which we receive things we request.

Please do not misunderstand me.

I think it is a wonderful thing to pray for others especially when they are ill, coping with loss or dealing with difficult situations.

If we are faced with similar issues, then we should take them to God in prayer as the old hymn reminds us.

But we also need to exercise good judgment when it comes to praying for ourselves.

By that I mean that we really need to understand what is motivating us to pray for ourselves.

When it come to praying for things we really need to exercise caution.

Let's take praying to God for a new church building or for the expansion of an existing one as an example.

On the surface, this seems benign but even in this case we need to examine our motives.

If our motivation is to edify the body and we need more room to accommodate more people then I think we are on good footing.

If our motivation is merely to have a nicer and more beautiful structure then perhaps we should take time to think things over before approaching God.

Granted, I am painting with an extremely broad brush, but this is merely for the sake of example.

That said, let us examine the results of prayer.

For example let us say that there are two people and each has a close family member who is extremely ill.

Let us also say that each prayed for the healing of his family member.

Let us also assume that the first family member was healed but the second died.

Can we conclude that the second person did not pray as hard as the first, or that the right prayer was not said?

Can we conclude that the first person had more faith than the second?

The answer to all these questions is "No".

God has a plan and understands it completely, whereas we cannot.

Though each of the two prayers was answered in a different way, the relationships between each of those praying and God were strengthened.

And the prayers should not end there.

The second should pray for comfort, peace and understanding.

The first should pray with gratitude.

Thus the relationships between those praying and God continues to be strengthened.

It must be stated that too often it is the prayer of gratitude that is overlooked.

These are but a few thoughts on prayer, so I invite you to read Hebrews chapter 11 in its entirety to put things in a proper perspective.

Bear in mind the last two verses.

Hebrews 11:39-40 (NIV) - These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

This brings up a final point.

Some prayers are not answered right away.

Some might not even be answered in our lifetime.


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The  Other Brother Jim
Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, June 20, 2014.
I’ll be back here on Friday, June 27, 2014

Where Does the Time Go?

Job 8:9 (NET) - For we were born yesterday and do not have knowledge, since our days on earth are but a shadow.

It is difficult to believe that autumn is already here.

October is but days away.

I have already received an invitation for Thanksgiving.

Even the local news reminds me that Christmas is less than 100 days away.

We often hear the rhetorical question "where does the time go?"

Once, while working on a project with a pressing deadline, my employer asked me that question.

He then looked at me as if he really expected an answer that question.

I simply replied, "it goes away."

Unsatisfied with that answer, he asked me a follow up question.

"How do we get it back?"

I laughed and asked in return, "If I had the answer to that question, do you honestly believe I would be working here?"

I still am not certain if he appreciated my humor.

The fact of the matter is that every time a second ticks off the clock it is forever gone.

Time moves eternally forward and we have no way to turn back the clock and reclaim it once it is gone.

Time also seems to move faster as we grow older, though I am convinced that this is more of an illusion than anything else.

As we have grown older we simply have more of a past with which to compare the passing of the present.

Speaking for myself, I am almost certain that I have fewer days on earth ahead of me than those I left behind.

Or, those that left me behind depending on one’s perspective,

Yet not a single one of us knows exactly how many days we will have.

My own family history provides me with an excellent illustration of that.

My mother who lived into her advanced years had a great deal of time.

My father who died when he was about my age had some time.

My brother who died in infancy had very little time.

Personally speaking, I am glad that I do not know exactly how much time I will have.

If I did, my human nature would relegate my life into nothing more than a countdown.

I would no longer be living. I would only be surviving.

The question then becomes how do we best spend the time we have left.

Jesus provided the answer when He was asked to single out the greatest commandment.

In His infinite wisdom, He gave a two part answer.

Mark 12:30-31 (NET) - "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these."

Jesus knew that if we truly kept these two commandments, we would in fact be keeping all the commandments.

Also, He knew that in doing so we would be living our lives to their fullest.

In the end, the amount of time we have on this earth is of secondary importance.

It is what we choose to do with the time we have that matters most.

The choice is ours.

Do we waste this precious resource so graciously given to us by God?

Or, do we invest it wisely by giving it back to God and by loving and helping our neighbor?

If we do the latter, the return on our investment will exceed even our wildest expectations.


Blessings,
Jim Pokorny
The Other Brother Jim
Look for me at http://faithfulfeetteam.blogspot.com/ on Friday, October 4, 2013.
Please enjoy the contributions of my fellow Christian bloggers while you are there!
I’ll be back here on Friday, October 11, 2013.