“Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
One of the number one questions people of faith (and even some who aren’t) wonder about when it comes to life at large is what God’s will for them is. What’s God’s will for my life? What does He want me to do? Where does He want me to go? Which decisions will bring Him the most honor? It sure would be nice if the Bible had some places that just spelled this out for us in unmistakably clear fashion. As it turns out, we have one right here. Let’s look at what it says.
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping your word.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
What’s the secret to the good life? That’s something we all wonder about from time to time. We may not ask it out loud, but it’s rumbling around in our heart and mind. We do the things we do because we believe those actions will lead us to life and flourishing. But inside we wonder: Are these the things that will get us there? Well, while the Scriptures were not written specifically to answer that question, if we pay close attention, sometimes—like right here—they give us a pretty good clue to the answer.
But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told you, “In the end time there will be scoffers living according to their own ungodly desires.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
If you ever want to feel accomplished in reading the Bible, start with a book like Obadiah or Philemon or Jude here. You may not understand all (or even most) of what you’re seeing, but you can finish the whole book in a few minutes. Then you can say, “Why, yes, I have read whole books of the Bible before.” And when you do, you’ll come across some gems like this one. So…what does it mean?
“Let whoever is wise understand these things, and whoever is insightful recognize them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Have you ever tripped over nothing? You were just walking along a totally flat and smooth path and suddenly you were on the ground. I suspect that’s something we’ve all done at least once. For some folks it’s more like a daily affair. I had an old pair of shoes that were tripping hazards. Everywhere I went I tripped. Over nothing. For some reason the toes of those shoes were more attracted to the ground than any other pair I’ve ever owned. I actually adjusted my walking while I wore them to account for the tripping. I wasn’t sad when I wore them out sufficiently to justify getting a new pair.
Yesterday was Mother’s Day and if you have a mom in your life, I hope you celebrate her with gusto. She deserves it. We celebrated moms in our own way here at First Baptist Oakboro including this conversation about how we can structure our families in such a way as to make the passing on of the faith from one generation to the next a safer bet than it sometimes is. Keep reading to find out how.
Passing the Torch
One of the national highlights when
a particular country gets to host the Olympic Games is the Olympic Torch. Each Olympics, the climax of the opening
ceremonies is the lighting of the Olympic Torch. The main flame is always lit by a smaller
torch that has usually been on a journey across the host nation. It has been passed from runner-to-runner,
hand-to-hand, until it arrives at the Opening Ceremony and accomplishes its
intended aim. The journey the torch
takes, though, is not one that any single runner could accomplish as a solo
venture. It must be handed off or it
will eventually fall to the ground. Our
lives are a little like that. We can
only carry ourselves and the things that are important to us so far before they
have to be passed on to someone else. If
we don’t, everything we count as dear will eventually fall to the ground and be
left there where it will eventually be trampled and forgotten. Now, just because we have designs on passing
what’s important to us on to the generation that follows doesn’t guarantee a
smooth or easy passing, but making no such plans guarantees that nothing will
happen.
The Nexus 