The Better Part, week #25

 

This week's FB posts:

The Better Part, Day #140:

 

In praying for a friend whose father is at death's door, I let the Spirit carry the burden- and instead of all the "ifs" that go into praying for someone whose relationship with Christ you don't know, the Spirit simply prayed believing the best. Lesson: Pray the best, and allow God to take charge of it.

 

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day#141:

 

 

Today I heard a pastor on the radio say, "The ancient rabbis believed that the Messiah, when he came, would not only explain the Word of God, but the SPACES between the words"! And I thought to myself, it is those spaces that make it impossible for those who refuse to believe to understand the living part of the Living Word. Thank you, Jesus, for showing me some of this...

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #142:

 

Watching the wind outside my window, I thought to myself: Knowing what a stuffy room feels like, air circulation is so very important to life. God's 'goldilocks zone' here on Earth gives us an average surface wind speed of 7.4 MPH. On small planets like us and Mars, that rises in the upper atmosphere to about 60 MPH. The strongest gust a human can stand in is about 95 MPH (so don't get caught in a hurricane!) and the strongest gust ever recorded on Earth was 253. 

 

Now, let's thank God we were granted such a safe spot in the universe, just based on wind:

 

Mercury: No atmosphere, no wind.

Venus: consistent at 185 MPH

Mars: Max 250+

Jupiter: 350+

Saturn: 1,110 +

Uranus: 550+

Neptune: A 'gentle wind', 900- a strong one 1,800

Pluto: 1,000+

 

Now thank God that our planet's size, placement, orbit, and other factors is just right for just the right circulation!

 

 

The Better Part, Day #143:

 

3Jn 1:14 but I trust I shall shortly see you, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name. 

 

I was reading 3 John, and noted that in Wesley's commentary, he says that the word "friend" is not often used, 'usually swallowed up in the more endearing one of 'brother' ". So I hit the concordance, and the NT has the word 29 times, most of them by Jesus, but it struck me that two of those occurrences, sitting next to each other were these:

 

Joh 19:12 From this time, Pilate sought to release Him. But the Jews cried out, saying, If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. 

 

Jas 2:23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God." 

 

One is the loose way the world uses it; the other, the meaningful way God uses it. And that way, Jesus even gave us an example of...

 

Joh 15:14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

Joh 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master does. But I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.