Here’s a video I saw this week that asks a question that will leave you a bit unsettled:
For some, watching this video causes feelings of being out of control or wanting to slow things down. For others, I believe there is a sigh of resignation about things which cannot be changed.
Please know, your Heavenly Father remains in control of all things. You can trust Him!
You may have the same feeling I do when viewing commercials on television–you wish they would end just as soon as possible. Most are dreary attempts to sell something that I don’t need and after watching the advertiser’s efforts to tempt me, I’m less inclined to than before to consider that brand or product.
But for the past year or so one company has found a way to connect with me. Not that I’m going to switch to their insurance but I do have a higher level of appreciation about them than I did before for the theme they have chosen to emphasize in their commercials.
The company? Liberty Mutual. No bells ringing for you? Take a look at their latest ad:
Now I bet you can recall them and I also think you have a similar attitude about them that I do: if this company puts the words of the commercials into action, they are a good, solid company. Why? Because they are encouraging everyone to be responsible in helping their neighbors. This is the image they are trying to give about themselves that they are helpful toward their customers, they are responsible for their clients.
Not a bad image to give of themselves. Let’s hope its accurate.
In the meantime, all of us should be striving to put our words of kindness into acts of kindness. This is exactly what Jesus did for us. When He said He loved us, He showed us that love by giving up His life on the cross so that we could have forgiveness of our sins and eternal life. His words were matched by His actions.
May our words and actions show the same type of caring for all.
The funeral for Helen Youakin, the mother of Carol Wiley, will be this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Beaugard Funeral Home, 869 Kinderamack Road, River Edge NJ. Friends may visit with the family at the funeral home on Friday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.
Our weekly devotion from Rev. Earl Fedderson, retired LCMS mission executive:
Genesis 22:1-18
Romans 8:31-39
Mark 1:12-15
The lesson from Romans has one of my all-time favorite passages: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Harry Houdini, the trickster, was once tricked by a very clever police department. He agreed to be placed into a locked jail cell. Before entering, he was searched, and a device suitable for picking locks was found and confiscated. Then the jailer put the key into the lock and shut the door with an ominous click. The famous escape artist had another pick which he immediately began to use as soon as he was alone.
His profound knowledge of locks enabled him to know exactly what to do–how to trigger the device, and which way it should turn. But he tried and tried in vain. Eventually, he gave up–foiled for the first time in his life. The jailer returned, reached for the door and pulled it open. There was another “click,” the sound of a simple latch which held the door in place when it was not in use. The door had never been locked.
Many people try in vain to pick the lock on the gate of heaven. Mankind has devised countless religions which place us, like Houdini, on the other side of the door trying like mad to unlock what has already been unlocked. But we cannot unlock what God’s grace in Christ has already opened to us.
The message of Christianity is that we have been made right with God by His grace, through our faith in Christ, and that even our faith is His gift to us. Whether we are missionaries in countries far from home or right in our own backyards, the most difficult opposition to the Gospel comes from religious attempts to pick the lock. In other words, we want to imagine that we can–we must–do something ourselves. Some think faith is what we must do, but faith isn’t something we do to deserve God’s love. Faith is something we have as a free gift from His undeserved love.
At this time of the year, a sly temptation creeps up in some circles. This is Lent and the theme of repentance is clear. Beware of trying to turn repentance into your personal pearly gate lock-pick. Jesus warned against making a show of penitence. Repentance is neither a performance for other people nor a method of gaining God’s favor. As a matter of fact, any attempt to gain God’s favor should be at the top of our list of things to repent!
When Jesus said, “Repent and believe the Gospel, He was not commending repentance as the latest and greatest in lock-picks! God already loves you more than you could possibly imagine. Repent your sins and throw away your lock-picks–the door is open. Sin says, “There must be something we have to do.” Sin insists that God does not love us, and it sets out to prove it by attacking God to force His hand.
Jesus passed that test. During Lent we remember that both His hands were forced . . . and secured with nails. We have a message to get out to the world, including our own backyards. Only one thing stands between us and the love of God in Christ–
–nothing!
During the forty days of Lent, God’s baptized people cleanse their hearts through the discipline of Lent: repentance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Lent is a time in which God’s people prepare with joy for the Paschal Feast (Easter). It is a time in which God renews His people’s zeal in faith and life. It is a time in which we pray that we may be given the fullness of grace that belongs to the children of God. (from Treasury of Daily Prayer)
Here is a movie trailer for a documentary entitled “Windfall” which I presume takes a negative look at the whole wind turbine controversy in our country:
I don’t think it matters which side of this issue you are on, there are some very real matters that have not been fully addressed in our nation’s rush to go “green”. No matter what form of alternate energy it is, we typically don’t research these things very carefully before we dive into them.
The state of New Jersey is considering a wind farm off shore in the Atlantic Ocean and there are more than a few who are raising their concerns about this. Along with “fracking” (a controversial way of bringing more natural gas up out of the earth) and a new natural gas pipeline being run just a couple of miles from my house, all these issues have many points of contact for all of us and how we impact God’s creation.
May we be good stewards of this earth.
The Importance of Planning
The key to managing our money responsibly is planning. H. Stanley Judd wrote, “A good plan is like a road map or GPS: it shows the final destination and usually marks the best way to get there.” Just as we would never go on a long trip without a map, we should not try to manage our money without a plan. A common phrase puts it bluntly: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
Whether God gives you little or lots of money, you need to become a responsible planner. Planning enables you to accomplish more with the money that God entrusts to you. In Proverbs 16:3 we read: “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” Plan with confidence since God will always be with you to bless and watch over you. “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).
Planning for the future begins today. Procrastination is one of the greatest hindrances to financial planning. Galatians 6:7 reminds us that we reap what we sow. If you sow nothing, you reap nothing. In other words, little or no planning results in the likelihood that your situation will be unstable and your ability to give minimized, at best. Best intentions without follow-through will get you nowhere.
Prayer: Dear good and gracious Lord, help me always to seek and depend on Your wisdom and guidance in my planning. In all that I do and say, help me to seek to do Your will rather than my own. Amen.
Blessings on your journey as a steward!
