"And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own."

Made it to Friday. Check. It is May 20, 2011. Check. All is well and everything seems to be up and running. I'll have to get back to you on that one. Not really. Just joking. It is another day and with it comes all that it will bring with it. You are familiar with the routine. Right? We all are because we actually never know exactly what a new day will bring. However, we can know the One who does. Some folks no doubt looked at my grandfather and wondered if he had a 'grin and bear it' attitude about the many challenges that came his way. That wasn't his thinking at all. His life was one of simple faith and the lines from his favorite song reflect his attitude about life: "Many things about tomorrow, I don't seem to understand; But I know Who holds tomorrow, And I know Who holds my hand." I didn't really understand this approach to life so much when I was younger and while I would never say I have the strong faith he demonstrated, I can begin to grasp by my own belief in God how that he could have this outlook. I will tell you that a faith walk does not mean that folks laugh in the midst of adversity or trial. No. People of faith feel pain, hurt, anguish, and they at times are worn down by the difficulties they face. Yet, they face it with a resolve and a hope. In themselves? Now that would be foolish. Right? People of faith seek God and His strength to help them to make it one more day, through one more challenge, and to persevere one more time. The Apostle Paul said we do this by seeing the unseen. That's right. The unseen. He also said the unseen is actually more real than those things that we can see. I'll let you think about that to get you started off for a Friday. You can read about it. It's found in the Holy Bible, where God inspired the second letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians, Chapter 4, especially verses 16-18.

I have to be reminded that in the midst of all the fire breathing I do, someone might get the idea that I am a cynic. I am not. One thing should also be clear. I am not a robotic Kool-Aid drinker that takes whatever the so called powers, regardless of party or affiliation, are dishing out, therefore you want find me doing my chug-a-lug act in lock step with all the so called believers. As for the current situation, the audacity of hope crowd who cannot see that their emperor is pretty much down to his skivvies at this time, well, they need a little dose of reality, served straight up, my friend. In all of this I try to be somewhat of a realist but with a positive spin. The positive part comes from my faith in God, not my belief that the rudiments of this world is ever the answer. Those rudiments or rules for the road, so to speak, are based on a fallen nature operating in a fallen world. The Apostle Paul served at a time when Rome ruled the world. He used his own Roman citizenship to assist him in the conduct of his ministry. He used his birthright as a Jew to gain opportunities to share the Gospel with his beloved people. He participated in the available travel modes, he worked with his hands to help support himself, and he lived in the world God placed him in, not the one he might have liked better. He also suffered at the hands of his own people, the Jews, and he eventually was executed by the Roman Emperor. During his relatively short ministry, operating in a mostly pagan and unfriendly environment, the power of God worked through him and he literally turned the world upside down and brought about change that still reverberates around the globe today.

I am well aware of the escapist mentality. I pretty well perfected my version of it as a kid. I was in trouble more than a few times for day dreaming in class. It was my way of living in a different place at a different time. A place of my own making. One where I didn't have to face the challenges of whatever crisis was in progress at the time. I would guess that some of you have been there and done that. I'm still drawn to it today, however, with God's help we learn that He has placed us where we are - - - today. Not back in history. Not somewhere in the future. But, it's the old, get up everyday and go about your business in the real world, the only one where one can actually make a difference. I hear people say if only they had lived at the time when, and then they fill in the blank. It doesn't take much study to figure out to discover how that imagined 'when' wasn't great every single day either. Why? Broken record time. Because. We are a fallen people living in a fallen world. That's why. Maybe the Apostle Paul can be an example and encouragement to us all. Use what God has provided to you to serve Him. If that is small, He will bless it. If that is large, He will bless it. If it is done in the midst of some pretty tough circumstances, He will see us through. I suppose any of us who are believers would love to be able to pass on the final testimony that Paul did, "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7) Notice those powerful 'the's' in his statement. Something to strive for even in our own little sphere where we live and work. I do pray that you will be encouraged and that you will enjoy your Saturday, and that you will also find yourself in service worshipping our great God on Lord's Day Sunday. Amen.          ......More later.