Tuesday, July 28, 2009

four things...

(earliest morning on the Dead Sea, Israel)


He has planted eternity in the human heart. . . .
--Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)

"There are four things we should know about every person on this earth. No matter how successful they are, how unsuccessful they are, how famous they are, how beautiful and handsome they are, or how unattractive and plain they may be, everyone shares these four traits.

One, there is an essential emptiness in every person who hasn't yet come to Christ. Everyone is essentially empty.
No matter how much money or prestige someone has, everyone has to deal with that emptiness.

Scripture says that God made His creation subject to vanity or emptiness, meaning there is a void—a hole, if you will—inside every man, woman, and child.

Two, people are lonely. We can assume there is a sense of loneliness in every individual. Albert Einstein once wrote, "It is strange to be known so universally and yet be so lonely."
People are lonely. We need to know that.

Three, people have a sense of guilt. They may try to mask it with alcohol or have a psychologist or psychiatrist tell
them it is not there. But they have to deal with their guilt over the things they have done wrong.

The head of a mental institution in London once said, "I could
release half of my patients if I could find a way to relieve them of their sense of guilt."

Four, people are afraid to die. Some may strut around and say, "Not me. I'm not afraid to die." But they are.

[me: I just think we are just taught, fed, wound-up tight in fear, not just fear of death. We try to live our lives in the
thick nasty sludge of fear all of our lives, it depletes us, makes us mentally and physically ill, and destroys our relationships with others...it shouldn't be so. Jesus taught us a better way.]

So don't be so intimidated by the facades that people hide behind and assume they don't want to hear what you have to
say about your faith in Christ.
(Pastor Greg's Harvest Daily Devotion for 7/28/2009: "Four Things We Should Know")

I read through this devotional from yesterday, timely seeing as how I have to organize a PTA board meeting and don't know half of the individuals coming to my home.

I need to see everyone I work with this year through your eyes, God, not with my limited vision.

Help me to only speak and serve with compassionate (not self-serving) love.

jj
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