Proverbs 16:3 Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
One of my passions is studying history, especially the American Civil War. Here is an amusing story about General Stonewall Jackson’s famous Valley Campaign. During the war, Jackson’s army found itself on one side of a river when it needed to be on the other.
After telling his engineers to plan and build a bridge so the army could cross, he called his wagon master in to tell him it was urgent that the wagon train cross the river as soon as possible. At once, the wagon master started gathering all the logs, rocks and fence rails he could find and quickly put together a bridge.
Long before daylight, General Jackson got word that all the wagons and artillery had crossed the river. “Where are the engineers and what are they doing?” asked Jackson of his wagon master. “They are drawing up plans for a bridge, Sir.” He replied.
Don’t spend so much time drawing up plans — be an example! Get out an take action! There’s so much work to be done!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Some experts believe that acute stress can provoke changes in the heart that may lead to death. In one study, fifteen cases were identified in which people died after a physical assault, even though the injuries alone were not enough to kill them. Eleven of the fifteen showed a type of heart-cell death, similar to a reaction in experimental animals that feel helpless to anticipate or avoid danger.
During the 1990’s in an NCAA Division II national championship cross-country race in California, a bizarre twist of events took place. Mike Delcavo and 127 of the best runners in the country were battling for glory over the 10,000 meter course. About three miles into the race, Delvaco was somewhere in the middle of the pack, when he realized that the runners had made a wrong turn. So he yelled out, “You’re going the wrong way,” but they didn’t listen. Only 4 others followed Mike when he turned in the right direction…and suddenly, he found himself in the lead.
Yeshua (Jesus) is the Prince of Peace (Sar Shalom, in Hebrew). You may have already known that the word "shalom" means peace. But actually, it has several meanings in the Hebrew. Shalom means peace, completeness, prosperity, safety, contentment, health, blessing, and rest -- and not only that. Shalom is the common word for hello and goodbye.
A National Geographic article published a few years describing a real celestial event which took place at the time of the birth of Jesus reminded me of Risto Santala’s explanation in his book, "The Messiah in the New Testament in the Light of Rabbinical Writings". He wrote about a conjunction of major planets that took place which could have led the wise men from the east, to Israel.
Simeon must have been a remarkable man, one who continued to seek God all his life. The Lord rewarded him by finally revealing to him the infant Yeshua's identity as Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world, and allowing Simeon to actually hold and bless the "lamb of God".
When Paul wrote to the Philippian church he spoke of pressing forward for the prize of the high calling. Though he was physically content whether rich or poor, [Philippians 4:11] the apostle was not content with his spiritual condition, but constantly seeking a deeper, more intimate and fruitful walk with the Lord...
There is a process going on in us believers. Since the day the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us He has been at work with perfect wisdom and supernatural power to renew and transform our character, to some extent, our personality, and even our physical body. Our outward man, this mortal body with it’s natural weakness and sinful ways was doomed to death and is “wasting away” even now.