paravanes:meditations

In this quote from the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, Jesus goes on to say "you cannot serve both God and money". Jesus never says money is evil. Jesus' disciple, the apostle Paul, is famously misquoted as having said "money is the root of all evil." The accurate quote is "the love of money is a root of all kinds of all evil". (First Timothy 6:10) When you love something or someone more than God, a door to temptation is opened. Make the effort to realize if someone or something is acquiring "God level" priority and position in your life. Move that person or thing into its proper place. Elimination may not be necessary, but proper placement is mandatory. As for the money, use it. Don't serve it.

Recently, more than a few social media accounts I follow have featured what the writers seem to believe are their "righteous" calling down of bad "future news" and negative "prophetic warnings" against those considered to be enemies. This is probably not a new trend, but I've noticed two particularly vicious "statements of rebuke" in the last seven days. No cursing allowed. This means we, as Christians, have no permission or authority to strike against those we consider enemies with words of "prophetic" threats and " warnings" of bad things to come for those we believe oppose us, wish us harm, or seem to be in the way of our progress. God says vengeance belongs to him. This means any corrective or punishing action against someone will be done in God's way and in God's time. Calling curses into someone's experience is not our responsibility and it is not something we are called to do. It doesn't ma...

Revelation 21:4 says "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." The book of Revelation should never be thought of as a frightening book filled with terror and judgment. The terror and judgment are reserved only for those who reject God's move into a new order, where tears and suffering and pain are permanently removed from the human experience. Every person is now welcome to reject the evil of our present time and embrace God's will and God's order. And for those who have suffered and grieved in this time, know that God will wipe away all tears from our eyes.  Picture yourself as a sad or hurt child who climbs into the lap of a loving parent. Picture that loving parent wrapping strong arms of consolation around you, listening to you explain what has hurt you, frightened you, scared you. Imagine yourself free to let the tears of grief fall from your eyes. I...

One of your most important tasks is to teach (by showing more than speaking) how to live well when most of the earthly life has been completed. Unless something unusual happens, you are now living in a space to which we are all headed. Do you consider yourself an older, spiritually mature Christ follower? Here's what we want to learn from you: * How to live well even when some parts of life have disappointed us, * How to remain joyful when some parts of our bodies don't work as well as we would like, *How to abandon regret and second guessing, * How to forgive those who are not sorry and do not care, * How to peacefully and intentionally release the cares of this world. If you commit to teach the younger ones these things, there will be less time and energy for ungodly judgment and more time for opening your mind and soul to being welcomed to the eternal home. Telling = saying what you think someone should do or accomplish. Teaching = saying and explaining...

The powerful prayer of faith is based on the strong, persistent belief that God is lovingly all-powerful, is interested in the well being of all people, is holy, and knows more than we know. What are some words spoken in the powerful prayer of faith?  "God, change my thinking to line up with your thinking."  " God, I think (fill in the blank) is a good idea, but if you don't think the same, please don't let (fill in the blank) happen. "  "God, I believe the Holy Bible (all of it) is your word and your unique communication to humanity. Because I believe this, I commit to reading through the entire Bible in the next twelve months."  "God, as much as I seek to claim every promise in your word (the Bible), I equally seek to obey every command in your word." " God, I seek to love you more than anyone or anything. This is the highest goal of my life because I know I can trust you more than anyone or anything. " What word...

Howard Thurman (1899-1981) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Thurman Theologian, Educator, Civil Rights Advocate Photo: Boston University (bu.edu) This is an encore post of a piece first published here in July of 2019. If you do not know the name and work of Howard Thurman, begin here.  Who Was Howard Thurman? This Far By Faith Jesus and the Disinherited ***************************** From (page 157   of) Sermons on the Parables by Howard Thurman. Orbis Books, 2018. "Do not shrink, then, from that which turns up in your road, suddenly making of us an ultimate demand. Know that if you respond with all that you have, your little life takes on a meaning in the light of which even death itself is a little thing. To miss it because of fear, timidity, pride, arrogance, self-righteousness, deceit, to miss it is to wander down your road in darkness, and what a darkness, what a darkness it is for you." Live bravely, humbly, and mercifully for the glory of God. God calls u...