instead of

… of a gumble - a grin. Instead of a sad face - a song in our hearts. Instead of depressed with the world - deepen our faith in God. Instead of hurts - the healing. Instead of hammers - helping hands. Instead…

Instead of reading a book alone, read with a group of students; Instead of taking a vacation and spending $2000 dollars, give $500 of groceries to 4 hungry families; Instead of sitting at home complaining about being lonely, go visit a senior home for an afternoon.

Instead of living a life with emptiness, ask Jesus to come into your heart; Instead of suffering in sin and shame, ask Jesus to forgive you and tell him you repent of your wrongdoings; Instead of wondering about your future, trust that God has control of your life.

There was a monastery in a small village up in the mountains.

One day, a rich man approached the monastery and knocked on the gate. A monk opened the gate and was handed a bunch of grapes.

The rich man said the gift was his way of giving thanks because the monastery was always there when he needed help. Now that he came across a good fortune, he wanted to give back. After the rich man left, the monk contemplated what to do with the grapes. At first, he thought about eating them. But he thought better and decided INSTEAD - to give it to the monastery’s abbot for he had taught him about kindness.

The abbot liked the grapes. But he thought there was someone more deserving of this gift — a sick monk. The abbot thought that the grapes would bring joy to the sick monk. So INSTEAD of eating them, he took them to the sick monk.

The sick monk was given the grapes and was thankful for them. However, he thought the cook who prepared his meals throughout his ordeal would appreciate them more.

It was now the cook’s turn to admire the grapes. He couldn’t bear to eat them, though. The cook wanted the monastery’s sexton—the one who tended the churchyard every day—to have the grapes as a sign of appreciation for everything he’d done.

The sexton was happy when given the grapes. But he gave it to his apprentice so that he could appreciate the beauty of God’s creation.

The apprentice was honored by the gesture. However, he recalled that it was the monk who opened the gates who welcomed him with open arms the first time he stepped foot in the monastery. So he gifted the grapes to the monk, not knowing the grapes were his, to begin with. The monk, who found the whole thing amusing, thought the grapes might be his. He also realized that if he started giving happiness, it was bound to come back. So, INSTEAD of keeping happiness, time, resources for yourself, share and bless others.

In reference to the Macadonean churches, Paul writes:

In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.  For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own…

2 Corinthians 8:2-3

How are you going to bless others this week?

fructify

As we go through our days, we need to consider that joy is a flower we can pick or choose. Throughout the beautiful moments that we can be thankful for, we can collect joy along the way and by the end of the day - there’s a bouquet!

Whether it’s a cherry tree - hopefully soon in bloom - or the spring flowers and fruit trees that start to bud and blossom, the world is so much brighter and colorful. I love what Hosea 14:5 has to say about this Latin “fructus” or “fruit” - to make fruitful like the actions of fruit-bearing plants.

I will be like the dew to Israel;
    he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
    he will send down his roots;

Our prayers are that God will refresh, reinvigorate, rejevenate and make the desert of our lives bloom! May He saturate our souls. May He fill us with the Water of Life. Let the Word of the Lord sink in to the soul of our discontent and drench us in the dew of the morning. As we start with joy, it can only grow into flowers of kindness, love and compassion.

I recently watched a little film about that very thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQGuVKHtrxc (Joy and Heron)

I also read a tale about joy that got me thinking about how contagious it can be.

One sunny day in the jungle, a bathroom scale appeared. The animals were amused and took turns weighing themselves. As time went on, some of the animals became obsessed with their weight.

They started getting into a bad mood because of the numbers displayed on the scale. They treated the scale poorly, kicking it and giving it angry looks.

But one day, the scale decided to do something about it. When the first animal, a zebra, stepped on the scale, it began tickling its hooves, causing it to burst into giggles.

From then on, the scale would tickle anyone who stepped on it, causing them to forget about their weight and focus on the joy of being tickled instead. As the years went by, the scale stopped measuring weight and instead began measuring good humor and optimism.

The Word of God tells us that Nehemiah told the Israelites, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 He was referring to the people being convicted of their sin, feeling guilt and shame and then being restored to the Lord. That is the joy we have.

interlocutors

When we are describing the participants of a conversation, we call them interlocutors, but the sad thing about social media is that there are few discussions and many opinions. More like the interlopers with lots of words but no substance to their worth.

Words can bulldoze us with criticism or buoy us up with encouragement. They can knock us down or hold us up. Words are hammers that can nail an issue or pound it down deeper. What we need is a hand, not a hammer, to help us out. It’s a push down or forward or a winch to lift us up. Words pasted on the screen.

Social media is zooming in on other people’s lives, like living diary entries that brother has picked the lock on and now it’s all posted on the screen for full display of the world to see. It could be a murder in the suburbs, an avadado toast recipe or pictures of narcasistic beauty pageant queens who never got to wear the banner.

This “safe space” of brother and sisterhood and proper pronouns with fake backgrounds of mountain scenes and sunsets at dusk with plastic pasted on smiles. This technology was supposed to bring us all closer together in communication, bonding, connecting, but we are literally universes apart now. Zoom Zoom in - Zoom out! Find the perfect Emoji. The WWW is now the weird, wild and wonderfilled. Insanity at its best.

But there is a place where opinions do not matter; where people don’t get the final word and don’t win arguments with the God of the universe. There are countless stories of conversations that mattered and ones that are still to happen. It is infallible, indestructable, incurrate, and indesputable. It’s the Living Word, sharper than a two edged sword - the Bible

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4: 12-13

eternity

There is the story of the sailor who set off on a journey using instruments to guide him to his destination, not realizing that with every calibration, it was off by one degree. Over the course of his time on the sea, he ended up in a very different location from his original destination.

“There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death,” Proverbs 14:12 tells us. The Bible is our compass and it calibrates us every day. In the Old Testatament, the Israelites rebeled against God and stopped believing in HIm, His promises and His commandments. They slowly indoctrinated themselves into the cultures and religions of those around them. One degree at a time, one sin at a time, until they were totally off course. Judges 17:6 tells us that “every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Doesn’t that sound like our culture, our society today? And yet, our loving God chose to redeem His people. He didn’t have to send Jesus to save us, but He did.

People today want to come to their own conclusions, share their own opinions, believe their own “truths” and have even stopped believing in the God of the Bible. “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness." Proverbs 30:12

If we really want to finish this race and have Jesus tell us, “my good and faithful servant” then we need to confess our sin, believe that Jesus is the Son of God and on the cross, He took our sin and shame and died for us so we wouldn’t have to. He was buried, rose again and has gone to prepare a place for us. Eternity is forever and I am so thankful that I will spend it with Jesus because heaven is my home. Where will you spend it?

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.”

John 3: 16 -18 (from The Message)

delight

The Fables of Bipai was the name given during the Middle Ages to a famous collection of Hindu tales full of wit and wisdom. Bipai is compared to Aesop because he used animal fables to instruct. Interestingly, Proverbs in the bible also uses animals to demonstrate this as well. Nonetheless, one of the tales of the two travelers, Ganem and Salem, demonstrates heart and purpose.

These two men were on a journey when they stopped at a stream near some woods to eat and rest. When they went to continue, they discovered a white stone with lettering inscribed with this inscription:

Travelers, we have prepared an excellent banquet for your refreshment, but you must be bold and deserve it before you can obtain it. What you are to do is this: throw yourselves bravely into the stream and swim to the other side. You will find there a lion carved from marble. This statue you must lift upon your shoulders and, with one run, carry to the top of yonder mountain, never heeding the thorns which prick your feet nor the wild beasts that may be lurking in the bushes to devour you. When once you have gained the top of the mountain, you will find yourselves in possession of great happiness.

Ganem was excited when he read those words and was prepared to follow the directions to see if it was true. Salem, on the other hand, had excuses such as, what if the stream is too swift? the lion is too heavy? what if we can’t make it to the top of the mountain? and he wanted no part in the plan.

Ganem then told Salem, “if you won’t go with me, then I’ll go alone” and the two friends parted ways. Immediately, Ganem jumped into the stream encountering a whirlpool, but he swam safely to the other side of the river. After a brief rest, he hoisted the marble lion on his shoulders and ran to the top of the mountain where he stood surprised before the gates of a beautiful city.

Suddenly roars came from inside the lion on his shoulder and as they grew louder, the city began to tremble and the mountains echoed the roar. To Ganem’s amazement, crowds of people with smiling faces poured out of the city gates undaunted by the noise. As they drew nearer, a group of young noblemen, leading a prancing black horse, knelt before Ganem.

“Brave stranger, we beseech thee to put on these regal robes which we are bringing, and, mounted upon this charger, ride back with thy subjects to the city."
Ganem couldn’t believe his ears and asked them to explain this honor. They replied, "Whenever our king dies, we place upon the stone by the river the inscription which you have read. Then we wait patiently until a traveler passes by who is brave enough to undertake the bold venture. Thus we are always assured that our king is a man who is fearless of heart and dauntless of purpose. We crown you to-day as King over our city."

What an honor we have as Christians to have Jesus as our King. The Israelites waited for their Savior and we wait for His return today. We can delight in the fact that he keeps His promises because He delights in us.

The Lord makes firm the steps
    of the one who delights in him;
 though he may stumble, he will not fall,
    for the Lord upholds him with his hand. Psam 37: 24

moonbeams

The cow jumped over her. She makes waves. Wolves howl at her. She is the soft light that touches the darkness of the earth, reflecting the Sun’s rays. This chunk of rock, called the moon, becomes a reflector of greater light. Isn’t that the reason for our existence?

The moon, a bit more than one-fourth the size of Earth, is essential for migrating birds and animals, not to mention a navigational beacon for those who are finding their way. The reproductive cycle also coincides with specific phases of the lunar cycle. Our seasons, the tides, the waxing and waning, crescent and full moons demonstrate change. God doesn’t change.

God does not exist for us. Contrary to popular belief that we are the centre of the universe and that the selfcenteredness, self indulgences, selishness of us, needs to understand that we, as humans, exist for God. We were made to shine His light - to reflect Jesus’ characteristics.

The moon doesn’t compete with the Sun. It knows its place in the sky. It doesn’t complain and say, “my position proves God’s absence” but instead shows its reflected light expands God’s purpose. Maybe we would see the world differently if we asked God what He wants of us. Making sense of our place in life and accepting that we are God’s chosen, helps us focus on a God-centred - not I centered - life. How we live our life on this earth and our relationship with Jesus will determine our eternal life. Let Him be your light.

The sun will no more be your light by day,
    nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your God will be your glory.
 Your sun will never set again,
    and your moon will wane no more;
the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your days of sorrow will end.
 Then all your people will be righteous
    and they will possess the land forever.
They are the shoot I have planted,
    the work of my hands,
    for the display of my splendor. Isaiah 60: 19-21