³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

⁶ He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷ Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

Revelation 21:3-7

The week of July 4 is upon us and for many of us, that means time spent with family and friends. But in my mind, it also conjures up images of summer vacations from long ago. Years before anyone ever even thought of the cell phone, before TVs and DVD players were common in family vehicles, my family would pack our bags, and cram ourselves into our old green Pontiac. We didn’t have much money growing up, so going on vacation was a rarity and didn’t happen until mom and dad would save several years to pay for one. Of the few places we were able to afford to go, we would head toward Gatlinburg, TN. With a car full of luggage and a family of four, this was, at best, an 8-hour drive. That, of course, was assuming we didn’t make a wrong turn and go 100 miles out of the way since GPS didn’t even exist. (And yes, we did actually go 100 miles in the wrong direction one time that I remember). 🙂 As my older sister and I were a good 30 or 40 minutes into the trip, we had already run out of ways to entertain ourselves, and so we decided it would be a great time to bug the daylights out of our parents by asking, “Are we there yet?” in unison for the next three hours of the trip until we wore ourselves out. Well, likely it was a constant and consistent question for the next three hours. After that, it was probably the entire rest of the trip. . .if not constant, at least periodically. 🙂 My mother, who will likely be anointed someday as a saint for putting up with me through my childhood, would calmly look back at us and respond, “We’ll be there soon.”

I don’t know about you, but last week was an extremely difficult week. Those that know me understand I have had tough weeks before, but this wasn’t just a tough week. . .it was a drastically difficult week. It was one of those weeks that tries its best to push you to your breaking point. You know that if one more thing hits home, you’re just going to hit the floor crying. And, I know most men won’t admit to that, but we have all been there. I wanted to fall to my knees and scream at the top of my lungs, “GOD, ARE WE THERE YET?” Ever have those days you just can’t take any more? The moments that your spouse or your closest friends just have to pick you up off of the floor because you just don’t have the strength to do it yourself? I was fortunate enough to read today’s passage during my Bible reading this week, and I was reminded. . .we are not there yet. But, we will be. . .some day.

God was cognizant of the fact that we are all sinners. We will all fall, we will all fail, and we will all have rough weeks. Sometimes we cry, sometimes others will hurt us, and sometimes we reach our breaking point. There is no doubt in my mind that we have all been there. What do you do in these times? For me, I talk to my wife about it and I often text or phone one of my closest friends, and try to get back up off of the ground. I have certain friends in my life who bring me joy every time I see them, and so I surround myself with friends who make my heart happy. But, the cuts and the scrapes often go deeper than any human can fix. While the calming advice of a trusted friend and the warm, soothing smile of one of your best friends, or the gentle touch of your spouse may help put a band-aid on the wound; only God is able to heal it.

I am thankful that God knows our hearts, and while He knows we have faith, He also knows He needs to remind us of hope and where we will go. In Revelation, God reveals Himself. Upon His revealing, He reminds us that we will live together in perfect peace and live with Him. There will be no more death, no more crying, no more pain. The days of falling to the floor thinking you cannot take any more will be forever vanished. I love how God reminds us that one day this will happen and then (and only then) will it “be done.” He reminds us that He was there in the beginning and He will be there in the end. . .”the Alpha and the Omega.” He gives us hope that he will never leave our side, he is everlasting, and we will eventually arrive at our destination. . .living with God. That sounds more than awesome to me!

This week, if someone hurts you, if someone causes you to cry, if things just don’t go your way. . .if everything seems to be falling apart; if you find yourself falling to the floor shouting, “GOD, ARE WE THERE YET?”. . .sit back and think about the words our Father would tell you. Just like my mother used to say, “We will be there soon.” Look beyond the sinful things of this world this week, look beyond the hurt, look beyond how others tear you down. Instead, look to our Father in Heaven as he gently reminds us, “We will be there soon, child. We will be there soon.”

1 Peter 3:8-9 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

Did you ever hear about the pastor who was so humble he declared it to the entire congregation on Sunday morning? 🙂 Pride often strikes us when we least expect it. It puts us in a position of feeling or attempting to be more important than others. If left unchecked, pride can ruin relationships. It can cause us to be unforgiving, it can cause us to be unloving toward others, and ultimately, it will cause a downhill slide in your relationship with the one and only true God. When we become proud, we put ourselves above others; forgetting all of the teaching of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Our King of Kings and Lord of Lords did not enter the world as a wealthy king, nor did he live his life as such, and He certainly did not exit this world as a prideful man. His entire existence was humble. His humility, his humbleness, allowed Him to reach the lost. He served them displaying all of the true signs of love. Had He been prideful, the love of the Father would never shine through His life.

It is of no coincidence that humbleness is a key to loving others, and it allows us to be sympathetic, and to be compassionate. For once we raise ourselves above others, we lose those qualities that display Christ’s love.

Later in 1 Peter, we read these words yet again: 1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. For God to lift us up, we must be humble. We must remember that we are here to serve Him; not for God to serve us, just as in the way we should show His love to others by serving them. Having a difficult time in your life? How humble have you been during this trial in your life? All of this is wrapped up into being humble. You see…when we remember that we are not important, we remember that God is most important, and when we remember this fact, we open our hearts for God to work in our lives. We stop dwelling in our own glory and start dwelling in His glory, and all of your anxiety can be put on Him. You will remember that God cares for you.

Does it seem to you that we find so many proud people, but so few humble people? When you think back on your life, was it a proud person who showed you love and made a significant impact on you or was it someone who humbled himself and made you more important than themselves? As you deal with difficult people, difficult circumstances, God calls on us not to repay those people with evil, but to be humble and love them. When you dealt with a difficult boss this week, did you show humbleness? When you were faced with a difficult situation with your family, did you humble yourself, or did you become one of the proud? When you hurt someone in the past, did you humble yourself to apologize or were you too proud to ask for forgiveness? Praise the Lord that Jesus was not too proud to humble himself for us, die on the cross for our sins, and forgive all who will believe in Him.

As we walk into the world this weekend, we need to remember not to be one of the proud, but be one of “the few” who is humble showing love to all people. When you feel the urge to be proud this weekend, to feel and be more important than the person next to you; remember that God did not call just a few of us to be sympathetic, loving, and compassionate; He called ALL of us to be like minded, to love one another…to be humble.

Luke 7:36-47

³⁶ When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷ A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. ³⁸ As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

⁴⁰ Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

⁴¹ “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

⁴³ Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

⁴⁴ Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

In this passage, we see Simon the Pharisee believe he is “holier than thou” in regards to other sinners. He goes so far as to wonder why this woman is even touching Jesus.  Obviously, Simon thought he was above other people. . .other sinners.  He did not see himself as unclean or sinful even though we are clearly all sinners. Jesus immediately sees his heart, he sees Simon’s mind, and begins to set him straight in a loving manner. He doesn’t accuse him of wrongdoing. Instead, Jesus points out a simple illustration of how two debtors are forgiven. Simon is brought to the understanding of how those who have large debts forgiven would love the master (who forgave the debts) more than the one who did not have a large debt. I wonder how Simon felt in that moment when he realized that he was actually less loving than the woman. . .”the sinner” as Simon had said to himself. Just moments earlier, he had exalted himself far above her and now; he realizes that he is not only a sinner, but loves his master less than the woman he so hypocritically judged.  Have you been there?  Judging others. . .looking at their public (or private) sins thinking to yourself, “I can’t believe what they did!”  I know I have.  Look in the mirror. . .that person is a sinner; no matter who you are.

It is intriguing what Jesus says at the end of this passage, “But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”  Besides an accusation of ourselves that we are all sinners and should be humble before our God, what else do we learn here?  First, God uses sin.  He uses it to show others His love.  He washes away our sin with the blood of the lamb.  The woman who was so blatantly a sinner had been forgiven.  Do you think that the message of God’s love would have been spread as far if he simply forgave Simon who others likely already viewed as a holy man?  It certainly wouldn’t mean as much.  Secondly, those people who you judge. . .”those people” who sin. . .the ones who do things you can’t believe; you know, “those people.”  They are the ones you don’t want to associate with because of their past or because they have admitted publicly to sin. Jesus tells us that “those people” when washed in the blood of the lamb have been forgiven much and therefore, love much.  What does that mean for someone who hasn’t been forgiven much? It seems obvious in this passage that those who have not been forgiven much do not love much or, at least, do not love AS much. Interesting how the ones who do not love much are the ones doing the judging of others, isn’t it? As you look in the mirror today, are you one who judges “those people” or are you one who loves much? Which of these two are you?  Which of these two am I?

Greetings!

Welcome to my blog!  As I walk through life, I find that many of us are searching for answers.  We all have troubles, we all have struggles, and we also all have praises and things that we are blessed with.  I think that we often forget to look to what our God tells us about all of these things.  When we read the manual He has provided, life can be much easier or at least we can gain direction.  These are my own personal thoughts on various pieces of scripture. My goal is to get us all to think about God’s Word, to read it, to reflect on it, and to put it into practice.  That is the goal of this blog.  My view may not always match your view, but I want you to think deeply about what God tells us. Keep in mind that I am not perfect. I am a sinner just like everyone else. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God (see Romans 3:23). With all of that said, I hope you enjoy and I look forward to your comments!

Welcome to my blog! I am still constructing this, but check back soon for new content!!!

Jeremy