Does life justify living?

A story is told of a Pastor attending a beautiful wedding ceremony on the coast of California, a shoreline of sandy coves and pebble beaches. The church was decorated with wildflowers and the sanctuary smelled of cedar and lemon balm.
The bride and groom radiant with love for one another. The reception was held outdoors and the setting was breath taking. The day was perfect.
In the midst of all this, The pastor got into a conversation with a young philosophy student, perhaps in his early twenties, tall and healthy. The young man asked, "do you really believe all that religious stuff"? "I tried your religion for awhile, and found its just a burden to carry", I have come to the conclusion that, "Life justifies living".
The Pastor listened and said, "Good", good for you. I believe you , here today-as you feel the warmth of the breeze and listen the beautiful music, and the laughter of the day., But Im thinking of a friend of mine, his name is Sam. Sam is 44, but looks 64, he's been living on the streets since he was 12. He's a junkie and dying of Aids. the last time I saw Sam he was on a bus back to see his Mother in hopes he could die at home.
And Im thinking about Ernie, a man on the rise in the business world, skilled and ambitious. A superb athlete a natural at any sport. He and his wife just adopted 4 children. He got he news back from his doctor he has terminal cancer, and 3 months to live.
"Yes, im thinking about Sam and Ernie and I have a question about your philosophy, how do I explain to them that life justifies living?"
The young philosophy student had no response, He said, "I'll have to get back to you on that". He never did...
"Because life does not justify living......ETERNITY DOES.

5 times!

A friend shared with me this comforting thought, "in the original greek the word "never" is said five times" ....five times in a row...in the scriptures. Instead of "I will never leave you nor forsake you" Joshua 1:5
The original way God wrote it was...." I will never, never, never,never, never leave you nor forsake you", when translated they only used one "never". She heard this treasure from a lecture of Elizabeth Elliot, a wonderful respected missionary.
The same verse is used in Deu.31:8, "He will never leave you nor forsake you" and Hebrews 13:5 "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you".

"I will never, never, never, never, never leave you nor forsake you"

What a comforting thought, Thank you Jesus!

Perseverance

... let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us RUN with perseverance the race marked out for us, let us FIX our eyes ON JESUS, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross.....Hebrews 12:1-2

"the race marked out for us".....we each have our own journey, a race God Himself marked out for each of us, very different from each other, but we are all striving for the same goal....JESUS

"run with perseverance"...Im really learning the meaning of "perseverance" because of chronic pain. Perseverance means dont quit!

"Fix our eyes on Jesus"......a heavenly glimpse of our Lord while we run! Look straight ahead, not turning to the right or to the left..but straight ahead. The enemy will try his darnest to get your attention..dont cave!!!

"for the joy set before Him".....thats you and me!! We are His joy!



Isnt that something? He thought of you and me while going through the agony on the cross, He did it for us ....personally.

What an amazing love that is!

Thank you Jesus. :)

Rooted & Established in Love

"Relax in My Healing, Holy Presence. Be still, while I transform your heart and mind. Let go of cares and worries so that you can receive my pece. Cease striving and know that I am God", It is through knowing Me intimately that you become like Me. Be still and know that I am God".

I am still playing over and over in my mind what Ephesians 3: 17 says, that you being rooted and established in Love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ..." that means we were made in Love, pure Love of God!...rooted and established in Love.
Thats heavenly balm to my soul!