The End of the Story

"This morning while driving to work I saw the first part of a rainbow in the cloud. It was wide and it was beautiful. I didn't notice the other end of it until later when I was pulling around the bend in the highway and saw the rest of it. God's promises are often like that broken rainbow. We have a promise we find and we rejoice. It's beautiful and it's wonderful and then it disappears. We get discouraged but there on the other side glowing brighter and stronger at the end is the rest of the promise; the fulfillment of it. God's promises will come. God will make sure they come to pass. We need to trust God that he will complete that good work which he began. When we see Jesus we may cry out like John, “The Lamb of God who was slain from the foundation of the world!” But just like we rejoice in his birth and mourn at his death there is a resurrection coming."

The beginning of the story can excite us can't it? I love the start of a good book or watching the opening credits of a movie. But the middle of a story can drag on. I can't tell you how many books I have not finished because it wasn't keeping me like the beginning. 

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes that the end of a thing is better than it's beginning. The end of a story or a good movie will always be better than the beginning. But even more than that the end of a time in life will be better than the beginning. 

When things take longer than you expect it can be discouraging. We lose hope in the middle of a thing. The wonderful news is that the One who began the story will be faithful to finish it. 

We have some friends who are in the middle of a terrible story. The beginning was a bad report from the doctor, lots of tests and tons of bad news. As the story continued it seemed that things went from bad to worse. Just when we thought they were at the end of a long process of chemotherapy and were out of the woods a second diagnosis came in. They are currently still stranded in the middle of a story that I know they wish they could finish. 

Life isn't as easy as putting a book down or changing the channel. We have to trust that God is in control and that our prayers are being heard. God will finish the story. I know there is a great ending ahead of my friends. Just like I know that whatever you are in the middle of right now the Author of Life will complete in a wonderful way. Follow His lead. He isn't finished with any of us yet. 

I would love to hear from you about your story, beginning, middle or end. Leave some comments below. 

Day 348 - Not What it Looks Like

"God is faithful and true no matter what I think or see. What matters is what God thinks and sees."

When Jesus came people were not expecting Him to come as He did. In fact if I would have written the Bible I am sure the text would be very different. 

I would have written a grand story like all the others. Jesus would have been very well received, He would have had every earthly comfort and lived a perfect life. At least I would have agreed with God on one point. 

Jesus would have still been the hero in my story and would have died in our place and been raised again to life. But in my story it wouldn't have been such a brutal death. No it would have been like when Superman died. It would have been an epic battle with the devil where Satan thought He struck the final blow and then Jesus would have raised again to life and totally annihilated the devil. Okay so there is a second point of the story my narrative would have agreed with. 

What is so awesome about Christmas, and even Jesus' life, is that it is a story like no other. No man could have nor would have written it. We mess things up when we try to play God. 

This Christmas you may have expectations of how things should go. There may be a picture in your mind of the perfect Christmas dinner, the perfect gift, the perfect Christmas morning or even the perfect message at church. Realize that God's picture is so much better. He sees what we don't see. He has plans that blow our plans out of the water. 

Look for the leading of God and grab hold of what He is doing this Christmas season. It may be unexpected like a baby in a manger. It may be as surprising as the cross. One thing I can tell you is that when God is involved it will be in His time, in His way and it will be as powerful as the resurrection because that is where everything in life flows from. Jesus is the Author of life. The story He is writing is wonderful and perfect. Let's live out His story.

What is your favorite unexpected part of the Christmas story? How do you see God's story being written in your life?

Day 341 - Unlocking Life's Mysteries

"If we understand that parable we will unlock all the parables of life."

When Jesus taught He would always use a parable. A parable is a story that is placed alongside another concept in order to teach or amplify a truth. Sometimes Jesus would give the interpretation of a parable and other times He would not. After Jesus taught the parable of the sower his disciples asked Him about the meaning behind it. Jesus said that in the parable of the sower we would find the key to unlocking all the parables. 

It is interesting to note some things about this parable. I would encourage you to go to Mark chapter 4 and read it in verses 1-20 before you read any further here. 

The whole point of the parable is that the sower sows the word. The word is what we find in the Bible. It is the very word of God. When we speak the word of God it is sown like a seed in our hearts. 

Our hearts are the soil. We can see that there are different kinds of hearts and out of the four types of hearts only one will receive with understanding and produce fruit. That is the kind of heart we all want because we all would like to understand life. 

We have so many questions. Things in life are hard to understand. When the devil attacks or persecution rises like the hot sun or the cares of this life come along and choke us it is all designed to get us off of understanding the word. 

The difference comes when we apply ourselves to hear the word, receive it, understand it and put it to practice. True understanding does what it says. Like when we understand long division we will write it out correctly. In the same way you know someone understands the word when you see the fruit in their life. 

All of the parables, the stories we see and hear every day, the questions we have have that nag us, they all can be answered in this one parable. It is the key that unlocks the mysteries. It is found in the word of God. Sow it into your life. Receive it with a heart that desires to understand it and readily submit to it and put it into practice. As you do you will show by your fruit that you get the word of God. 

Are there other parables that have the 'seed' of the word in them? How do they further our understanding?