Last Days…

March 2024
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“No Road is too long…”

 
Hello Folks, or as our beloved Pastor says, “Hello Church Family!”  The Lord has blessed us with another beautiful day! A perfect day for us to rejoice in, for His grace is upon us, and He gives us all we need. Praise the Lord!  I just returned from my week long trip to California. Perhaps some of you are thinking, “I didn’t even know you were gone.” :-) Indeed, that’s the way it goes in our busy life.  We come and go, without knowledge of the same in others. Where have you been this week? Like most of us, we are very busy doing all sorts of things as we go through our daily/weekly routine.  Sometimes this “road of life” we are on, leaves little time for others — let alone time for God. 
The Japanese have an expression for this — it’s called “Isogashii — Isogashii”. It means being very busy, or engaged in activity. That expression certainly points to the busy lifestyle many of us have these days. One question we might ask of ourselves, “Are we too busy for God?” How often do we go through our “isogashii world” without recognizing God in our life? 
By contrast, how great it is (as undeserving as we are) that we are lifted up by God in all we do. As Christians, it is only natural that we raise His name up high. We are blessed each day to find sanctuary in His presence. God’s glory abounds and His majesty knows no end. We can find comfort that His Laws are written on our hearts — His guiding Light always with us — always upon us. We find comfort as we humble ourselves, giving Him due honor, respect, and obedience — making God first place in our lives. We trust in God for everything in our lives, and we give Him thanks for the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross — God’s perfect plan. We acknowledge our salvation in accordance with God’s Word — as it says in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith— and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” 
Thank you Lord for all you do in our lives. You make this “worldly road” we are on a whole lot easier to travel — whatever our circumstances or situation. Amen!  Before I left on my trip, I asked the Lord to place someone in my path to share the Good News. As they say, “You have to be careful what you ask for — you might get it!” At every stop, the Lord indeed put someone in my path, and it was no surprise that He was there in every circumstance. Perhaps someday I can share these encounters with you face-to-face, if you like. It’s amazing how God orchestrates our walk with other people. 
It is clear to me that part of God’s plan for each of us, is that He wants us to help others – to be an encouragement to those in need — to speak openly of His Truth at every opportunity.  I marvel at God’s presence in everything we do — how God allows His mercy to work in our lives. His love for us has no end. 

  

I’ll mention one such a brief encounter I had on my return trip, which happened at my last stop enroute from Tucson to Las Cruces. I had stopped at McDonalds for some breakfast at around 6am — at apparently the same time a Greyhound Bus pulled in for the same reason. As I waited in line, there was a young girl (maybe 12 years old) standing in line in front of me. When she got up to the counter, she very quietly asked the person behind the counter if she could buy a biscuit. The lady at the counter said, “No, you can only get a biscuit if you buy a meal.” The young girl then asked how much it cost for a Hash Brown. The lady at the counter said, “We only sell the Hash Browns with a full meal.”  The little girl stood there and continued…  

 

While this dialog was taking place, I noticed that the little girl seemed to be by herself, and it was clear that she only money she had, was some change in her pocket. I then asked God what this was all about, and in that moment, I was prompted to tap the little girl on the shoulder and ask if she was hungry. She looked at me with her big eyes, and said, “Yes.” My heart melted, and at that moment, I realized that God had put me in that situation to help someone, so I bought her some food. She looked at me and said “Thank you”, and she ran off to board the Greyhound Bus that was parked outside. As she began to hurry off, all I had a chance to say was, “God Bless You Little One.”  As I got back in my truck and continued my trip, I thought back on times in my own young life (about the same age as this little girl) when I was alone in a place with no food, hungry, and wondering what would happen to me. I wondered… Who would be my friend? As I thought about what had happened at McDonalds, I began to realize that sometimes, all God wants us to be, is His witness as demonstrated by the love we show to others. Sometimes this takes place in small ways, as in helping this little girl with some food — sometimes it is on a larger scale.   
As I was driving along, I prayed for this little one’s safe travel — that the Lord would keep her safe wherever she was going. That He would protect her and keep her, and that someday as a grown woman, she would say, “I remember that time when I was a little child, alone and hungry — and a stranger helped me. Thank you Lord Jesus.”  Such is the love that God continually demonstrates for us — that we would do likewise and demonstrate the same to others. God looks upon all His children and seeks that not one would stray or be lost. Yes… and that someday, we to whom much has been given, will give Him thanks for His loving kindness, His mercy and grace — all bestowed on us in full measure — a free gift by the One that has “made a way for our salvation and eternal life”.   
God has given us so much — so how can we thank Him? By acting in obedience, listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, opening our hearts to Him in prayer, living in accordance to His will and following the Truth laid out for all to see — and always walking the road we travel in Christ Jesus.   

We know that this world is passing away, so we must strive to be faithful. Listen to what it says in 2 Peter 1: 3-10 about our calling:   

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 
 
 Let God’s Word here in 2 Peter be an encouragement to you this day, and let His Light always shine on the road you travel.
  
 The astro-image here shows an interesting formation in our Milky Way Galaxy. It is called “The Tadpole Nebula”, technically named ic410. This set of “tadpoles” reminds me of a couple of “cosmic friends” — traveling on the road of God’s Creation. This also reminds me of an old Japanese saying, “No road is too long, when you walk with a friend” 
 

 

 Since we know the Truth, and have been blessed by the Truth, we can with full assurancesay that the true friend we have is in Jesus. Our loving Father is always there, no matterwhat our travels. For God says in Hebrews 13:5,  “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
 
 
 
 
 

Have a great weekend — See you at Church!
 
Your Brother in Christ,
Mike Sherick 
 
 
 
 

  

  

 

  
 
 

 

 

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