|
Week Three, 2014 WALKING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS He that says that he abides in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 1 John 2:6
|
|
He that says that he abides in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 1 John 2:6
On a recent morning walk, I happened upon a truck proclaiming a statement that caught my eye. It was a quote from Gandhi. I paused to take a quick photo with my cell phone and as I continued on my way, I pondered what I had just read. What was the owner of the truck trying to say? Is there truth to it? |
Remember in elementary school when you would go on field trips and your teachers would tell you to behave because you were representing the school? If your class misbehaved at the museum, the museum employees would think your school is full of children who misbehave.
Well, the same in true of everything in life. Wherever you go, whatever you do, you are always representing everything you associate yourself with. You represent your school, your employer, your group of friends, your family. And as followers of Christ, we represent Christ.
Does the way you represent Christ push others towards Him or away from Him? Why is it that Christians are not more like our Christ? There are some who genuinely strive for that, but there are others who want salvation and nothing more. Scriptures call us to imitate Jesus, to obey Him, and to live the way He lived.
Paul lived a life to reflect the Christ he professed. In writing to the Ephesians, he said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (Ephesians 5:1-2) Paul reminds us to put off our old self, which belongs to our former manner of life which is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Radical obedience to Christ is not easy... It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us.
How about you? What kind of statement does your conduct in the world say about your faith….. your Jesus? Do you live on Monday what you are taught on Sunday? Remember you may be the only Gospel that many people will ever read. Actions speak louder than words. Don’t risk being unlike your Christ. Someone’s eternal life may be determined by it. |
Ten Things That Will Disappear In Our Lifetime:
1. The Post Office: Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.
2. The check: Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process them. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.
3. The Newspaper: The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.
4. The Book: You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.
5. The Land Line Telephone: Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they've always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.
6. Music: This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalogue items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."
7. Television: Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.
8. The "Things" That You Own: Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.
9. Joined Handwriting: Already gone in some schools who no longer teach "joined handwriting" (cursive) because nearly everything is done now on computers or keyboards of some type.
10. Privacy: If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway.. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits.. "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again.
|
Lessons I learned from my dog:
▪ Never stop playing
▪ Wag more, bark less
▪ Be loyal and faithful
▪ Be quick to forgive
▪ Love unconditionally
Author and pastor John Ortberg responds this way, “Never try to have more faith - just get to know God better. And because God is faithful, the better you know Him, the more you’ll trust Him.”
The best way to get to know God better, is to get to know Jesus, His one and only Son. The same Jesus who was born in the manger. The same Jesus who died on the cross for our sins. The same Jesus who resurrected and defeated the grave so that we might have life. |
Selected portions of Thoughts on Life can also be read at www.thoughtsaboutgod.com/blog.
The items appearing in this publication are the personal thoughts and based on true life experiences of the author, as well as various articles, quotes and humorous stories contributed by others. Your feedback is welcome and if you want to be taken off the mailing list a simple e-mail will do it. Feel free to pass this along to others and to contribute your ideas and thoughts. Address all items and comments to John.Grant@johngrant.net. © Thoughts on Life Copyright 2014 |
|
|
|
|
