it is so worth it…

we are about to head over to chapter 4 in james but before we do 3.18 has a reminder for us to see.  it says (msg), you can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with GOD and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

now relationships are hard work.  a healthy, strong marriage takes hard work.  it doesn’t just happen.  we’ve just seen a celebrity marriage break up after a few days.  it just was too hard work for them.  of course it is but it is so worth it. 

margaret and i have been married 37 years and we have found at this time in our life that all of the struggles and all of the hard work that we have gone through in our marriage has been so worth it.  she is my best friend.  it hasn’t been easy.  we’ve jokingly said that we haven’t contemplated divorce, murder yes.  we have had some very tough times but it has been worth it and our best years are ahead.  yes there still is a lot of work left for both of us but we are going to keep at it.   

a strong healthy relationship with your brothers and sisters takes hard work.  when you were young your dad and mom demanded that you get along and for the most part you did but after you became adults you said, “it is just too hard a job to get along with my family.  it is just not worth the effort.”  that what james is saying.  it is hard work but it is worth it . 

i’ll be honest it would really hurt me deeply as a parent if brett and stefanie as adults didn’t get along.  both of them have their own families now and that means their relationship is different from when they were kids but they love each other, love to be with each other and they believe in each other.  as their father i am so thankful for that.   it hasn’t been easy because they are both so different but it has been worth the effort.

have you ever thought about how much hard work it was for JESUS to have a relationship with you and me.  HE died for us so we could have a personal relationship with HIM so we could live right with GOD and enjoy its results, so we could also have a right relationship with each other.

the last part of the verse is also good where it says, treating each other with dignity and honor.  that is how we get along and that is hard work sometimes.  now honor doesn’t mean you agree with each other but it does mean you listen to them, you treat them with respect, you value them as a person who CHRIST died for.

now we need JESUS inside of us take care of our selfishness but it doesn’t stop there.  there is some hard work for us to do.  maybe this time of celebration of HIS birth would be a good time for you to step it up and do the hard stuff in mending some of those lost relationship.  that is the reason why HE came.  that would mean so much to your FATHER if you at least tried to do that.

just a thought from the front porch… 

who we are is because of WHO made us…

how exactly did GOD create man? how did HE do it?

well GOD took some dust and out of the dust of the ground HE formed a man. then later GOD takes a rib out of man, and out of man’s rib HE forms eve, a woman. if that were the whole story, it wouldn’t be enough. the real story is what happens after HE forms man out of the dust.

when the bible says there in verse 7 of genesis chapter 2 (niv), HE breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, the word breath is the same exact word in the hebrew language as the word “SPIRIT”.  HE breathed HIS SPIRIT into our lives. and man became a living being.

the most significant thing about us is not what we’re made of. it’s who breathed life into us. now they have somehow figured out the chemicals that are in our body and how much we’re actually worth if we reduced those chemicals and sold them down at the pharmacy. you’re really worth $4.95 – as if i needed that today!

but the truth of the matter is science has been trying for years to create an artificial intelligence that can do something as simple as walk. it’s something a baby can do at one or two or three. they spend billions and billions of dollars on this. but GOD made it and we just start doing it. it’s an incredible thing that GOD has made. you’re not worth five bucks. you’re invaluable. GOD created us in HIS image, in a perfect way.

the man who carved out mt. rushmore, his first commission for the united states was to do a statue of abraham lincoln for the capital. as he was working on the statue, a little girl walked by and said, “i think that’s abraham lincoln.” he said, “yes, it is.” then she said, “how did you know he was in there?”

the greatest truth about us is the fact that you and i are who we are because of WHO made us. it’s HIS creative power that makes you and i who we are. it’s HIS creative power that gives us the hope that we need.

just a thought from the front porch…