When People Look at YOU - Do They See Joy?

In 1 Peter 1:8 we read the following words:

"Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."

Peter is writing to followers of Jesus Christ. And he makes this statement of fact that they are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy. He simply took for granted that this was the experience of his readers. Why? Because, simply put, it should be so. Read the verses that immediately precede v.8:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, ⁵who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you greatly rejoice . . . " (1 Peter 1:3-6a)

Note all the blessings that we enjoy as a result of God's GREAT MERCY which he has so generously and richly showered upon us: a new birth into a living hope, an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, divine protection until the end! If we truly understand the scope of these blessings --- there will be no doubt --- we will be "filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy!"

So I encourage you to take a moment and re-read vv. 3-6a above -- and greatly rejoice in what God has done, is doing and will do forever for you -- all by HIS grace and for HIS glory! And allow His Spirit to fill you with this inexpressible joy -- and allow that joy to spill out into all of life's arenas!!!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

How's Your Financial Health?

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson has been in the news this week. Not due to any of his exploits (good or bad), but due to the tragic accidental death of his four year old daughter. Police reported that Exodus Tyson died at a Phoenix hospital a day after her neck apparently got caught in a cord dangling from a treadmill at her Phoenix home. Like I said, "a tragic accident!"

Now in the course of some of this news exposure of Tyson, I happened to read that at the height of his boxing career Tyson had earned over $140 million in a two year stretch. Not a bad pay check!!! Yet in 2003 he filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court! This demonstrates that it is not how much you make that determines your financial health -- but rather what you do with what you have! Far too many Americans are poor handlers of money. If you are struggling financially right now, let me encourage you to visit Crown Financial Ministries' web site at http://www.crown.org/. There you will find a wealth of resources that could help you get your financial house in order - IF you apply what they suggest.

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Faith the Antidote to Fear

I grew up in a small row house in the city of Harrisburg, PA. And for a family of seven ... I felt that smallness every day (the only good thing about the smallness of the house was the smallness of the front and back yards - made mowing the lawn a very quick chore - even for a fifth grader)! Our house was two stories with a basement. The basement was finished ... but for me as a youngster, I found it to be somewhat scary. In fact, I went through a stretch of time where almost every night I had a nightmare .... the exact same nightmare. In the dreams I would find myself in the basement (at night of course) when suddenly from the shadows the boogeyman would come for me (the boogeyman was always a nondescript shadow of sorts ... so I never knew quite what he was -- I just knew he was to be avoided at all cost!). As I would make a beeline for the stairs the lights would go out. In each dream I would always make it about half way up the steps when I would begin to feel myself being pulled back down into the darkness. At this point I would begin to scream for help -- but alas, no sound would come out of my mouth no matter how hard I tried to scream. At this point I would wake up with my little heart pounding and my little forehead soaked in sweat. I am glad to say that I finally got through that period in my life ... even to the point of being willing to convert the basement into my twin brother's and my bedroom when my little brother came along.

Now that fear of the boogeyman was quite irrational. We all know that there is no such creature! And just where I learned about the boogeyman I cannot recall. But fear is often like that. Many fears (not all, but probably most) are irrational. We fear what we do not need to fear. And the reason we are so prone to fear the various "boogeymen" in our lives - is that our faith is weak. Friends the antidote to fear is faith! When we are trusting our God (and when one considers who God is and what he has promised - why not trust him?) and faith is filling our minds and our hearts, there will be no room for fear to take residence!

Sooooooo -- today say to Jesus (as the disciples said in Luke 17:5), "Increase our (MY) faith!" For as your faith increases ... your fears will decrease. And that's a very good thing!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

The Smallest Words about Christ Are NEVER Wasted!

John Piper, in his book, Finally Alive, tells the following story to illustrate the fact that even our smallest words about Jesus can have a powerful influence on those who do not know Christ.

A young woman told the story as she was joining our church of how Christ saved her. She said that she knew a good bit about Christianity because of her parents but had thrown it all away as a teenager and was on her own. One day she and her friends were walking down the beach as several handsome guys approached. Her thought was to impress them and be thought attractive and cool. As the guys passed, one of them called out, "Praise Jesus!" Now probably later that night those guys said to themselves, "That was a lame witness. Why didn't we stop and talk?" Little did they know that these simple words, "Praise Jesus," pierced her heart and sent her later to her knees and to the Savior. There are no wasted testimonies!" (John Piper, Finally Alive, pp. 183-184).

Keep this in mind as you go through your day. Determine to speak up for Jesus to someone today ... and tomorrow ... and the next day! Remember - no word for Jesus is ever wasted!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

Something to Think About During the Long Memorial Day Weekend

As you can see from my book list, one of the books I am currently reading is titled, A Quest for More: Living for Something Bigger than You. The book was written by Paul David Tripp, a writer, conference speaker and adjunct professor at Westminster Seminary and the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation - both located in the Philadelphia suburbs. In the very first chapter of this book, I ran across a quote that I want to leave you with .... and ask you to ponder during this holiday weekend. Are you ready? Here it is:

"We were never meant to be self-focused little kings ruling minuscule little kingdoms with a population of one."

Think about it! And thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

P.S. - For info on this excellent book, go to the following Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Quest-More-Living-Something-Bigger/dp/0978556747/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243005678&sr=8-1

The Role of the Ten Commandments

Usually when people in America think of the Ten Commandments, they either think of the old Hollywood blockbuster film staring Charleston Heston as Moses or they think of litigation they hear about in which a group sues to have the Ten Commandments removed from some public venue. Beyond this, little thought is given to them. This is tragic. Why? The Ten Commandments are the foundation of God's moral law. Listen to what the NEW TESTAMENT says about God's law:

"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin" (Romans 3:20).

"What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, 'Do not covet'" (Romans 7:7).

"So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 2:24).

You see, it is through God's law that a person becomes aware of his guilt before God. And it is then and only then that a person will see his need for Jesus Christ. The good news of the gospel will only be good news when one realizes the bad news of his guilt as a lawbreaker before a holy Judge. Below is a clip from The Way of the Master. It begins with a clip showing just how ignorant people are today of the Ten Commandments. I hope you take the time to watch it.

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj

The Ultimate Escapologist!

Ehrich Weiss was a truly remarkable man. He travelled throughout Europe and the United States, performing before large crowds who were spell bound by his accomplishments. And just who was Ehrich Weiss? You might know him by his stage name, Harry Houdini. Houdini was a magician who is best known for his feats of escape. Houdini would allow himself to be bound with ropes, chains, handcuffs or straitjackets. Sometimes he would then be hung upside down and dropped into a container of water. Other times, he would allow himself to be buried alive (while bound). Always he would emerge free, awing the crowd by achieving what seemed to be impossible! There is no doubt, Houdini is one of history's greatest escapologists!

But as good as Houdini was at escaping ... and in his most daring stunts ... seeming to escape even death, he failed ultimately. That's right. He could not escape death when it came calling for him on October 31, 1926. At the age of 52, Houdini died of a ruptured appendix.

There has only ever been one man to really escape the clutches of death. And that is Jesus Christ. Yes, He died. But He did not stay dead. On the morning of the third day following his death, he arose from the dead. In doing so, He did far more than merely escape death. He conquered death! As a result, we no longer have to fear death! Because HE lives - we (who place our faith in Him to save us from the just penalty of our sin and rebellion against God) too will live (see John 11:25-26; Hebrews 2:15)!!! So we can stop fearing death and start cheering the grace of God and the gift of eternal life that is ours in Christ!

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj