Friday Coffee with PJ

It's that time of the week .... Friday ... coffee ... and a few random thoughts I hope are of help to you on your spiritual journey! 

1. Wow! That's a good word choice to describe what happened here in Lancaster County on Wednesday, the first full day of spring. Someone forgot to tell Old Man Winter that his time was up ... because the clouds above dumped a good foot of snow in my driveway! So I spent more time than I would have liked clearing out my driveway and cleaning off our van. This is the second winter in a row in which our largest snowfall has arrived in the month of March. As far as I am concerned, April can't arrive soon enough! But I must admit, as I gaze out my office window while inputting on my computer, the snow covered landscape is quite beautiful! And, of course, every time I see this beautiful white blanket of snow, I am reminded of a particular verse from the prophet Isaiah: "Come, let us settle this," says the Lord. "Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool" (Isaiah 1:18).

God is talking about how he deals with all of our sin once we come to him on his terms. And just what are his terms? According to Jesus, they are to "repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). If you want to learn more of what Jesus meant by this, I invite you to check out Two Ways to Live: The Choice We All Face. 

2.  Often throughout the Bible we run across God's call for us to be humble. But humility can be quite evasive ... kind of like trying to catch a greased pig. Once you think you are humble you begin to feel proud about it! So, what can we do to strive for humility? Here's a few suggestions which I have found helpful (ouch,.did I just write that proudly?) . . . 

- Constantly remind yourself of your own insufficiency while trusting in Christ's all-sufficiency (2 Corinthians 3:5)

- Think more of others than you do yourself (Philippians 2:3-4) 

- Don't compare yourself with others, but rather examine yourself using Christ as the standard (Galatians 6:4)

- Ask God to help you to "humble yourself under the mighty hand of God" (1 Peter 5:6)

Thanks for stopping by . . . 
pj