Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.   If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

The movie “Taking Chance” is based on actual events that took place in April 2004.  A Marine Lt. Col. volunteers to escort the remains of PFC Chance Phelps to his parents’ home in WY.  From this civilian’s point of view all of us who call the USA home should watch this movie about this journey that takes place every day across this country.

Click here for more information.

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” Jesus, as recorded in John 17:3

2 Peter 1:1-4

“Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:  Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,  as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,  by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Knowing Jesus multiplies grace and peace in our lives.

Knowing Jesus gives us all things that pertain to life and godliness.

Knowing Jesus gives us exceedingly great and precious promises.

Through the promises we have escaped the corruption that is in the world and having escaped the corruption have the ability to partake in the divine nature.

And He called us to this knowing!!! Not much about me in that passage.  He called me, He multiplies grace and peace, He gives life and godliness, His divine nature provides the escape from the corruption of the world.

So what do you do when you want to know someone?  You spend time with him/her and you ask questions about his/her life and sometimes you just sit quietly with him/her.  Psalm 46:10 puts it this way, “Be still, and know that I am God…” The context for this Psalm is destruction, desolation and war.  To read the entire Psalm click here. 

Jesus said it this way as recorded by John, ” Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

Abiding is the “work”.   It is when I am abiding that I will bear fruit, much fruit!

My mom says it this way, “Be a human being not a human doing.”

The conclusion I come to today and will have to remind myself of every day (maybe every moment of every day) is exactly what Paul told the Galations , ” I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” Galations 2:20. 

To the faithful brethren in Colosse he said, “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,  the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.  To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.  To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.

And how do we follow Christ in this way?  Be transformed, be still and know God, be a branch – abide in Jesus the vine, be a human “being”.  As John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  “Being ” is a sacrifice…my rights, my resources, my relationships, my religiosity, my reputation, everything I believe in I surrender…all of it has to be laid down for the sake of following Christ in a manner that is worthy of His calling on our lives.

  “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Romans 12:1-2 

Go and BE!

It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

 ^{Psalm 37:7a} 

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;

 ^{Psalm 62:1-2}

Truly my soul silently waits for God;
From Him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

 ^{Psalm 27:14}

Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!

 ^{Psalm 40:1-3}

I waited patiently for the LORD;
         And He inclined to me,
         And heard my cry.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
         Out of the miry clay,
         And set my feet upon a rock,
         And established my steps.
He has put a new song in my mouth—
         Praise to our God;
         Many will see it and fear,
         And will trust in the LORD.

 ^{Psalm 46:10}

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations,
       I will be exalted in the earth.”

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2010 when…

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave..

2. You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

 4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you…

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don’t have e-mail addresses .

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12.. You’re reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list. Its about time this happened to her….

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn’t a #9 on this list.

AND NOW U R LAUGHING AT YOURSELF

Go on, forward this to your friends. You know you want to.

HUNDREDS PROTEST GLOBAL WARMING IN LITTLETON, CO

 I don’t know who to give credit for this photo – it was in an e-mail forwarded to me and it is just too good to pass up sharing with those of you who may wander by here!

“Have your checkbooks and credit cards ready. There’s a price for health care security — particularly for solid middle-class households, who wouldn’t get much help with premiums.” 

I’m not surprised…are you?

Click HERE

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure?  Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?  Isaiah 40:12

He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Psalm 147:4

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? Psalm 8:3-4