"Beyond Ourselves"

"Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD." (Psalms 134:2)

  To be perfectly honest, I think we spend way too much time on ourselves; focusing on how we look, how we are going to make it through another day; what we are going to eat, because that might be a pretty big one for me! This verse is perfect for us getting our attention on the One that matters: God! Instead of making it about yourself, we need to make it about Him, and about what He thinks of you. The thing about a sanctuary, is that it does not need to be a church or a temple; it can your own body, as far as that goes, because you are a Temple of the Holy Spirit; a thing that is set apart, separated and dedicated for service to God. Obviously I have had one too many cups of coffee this morning, but it is said that coffee sharpens the mind. The problem with that analysis, is that a sharp object does not have a very wide surface, so you only can see small sections of things at a time; FYI. Anywho; Who is it that matters more than anyone else? Pastor Bryan was teaching and sharing yesterday about hope; walking us through Paul's opening of his first letter to Thessalonica. I remember something that a doctor told me while my wife was still in the hospital, he said, "Where there is life, there is hope." He made that reference to the condition of my wife and the fact her still being alive was a reason to hope she would get better. Maybe in this life, that is the way that it works; but in our spiritual life, it is just the opposite: Where there is Hope, there is Life! That pretty much sums up Paul's opening to his letter, as he was expressing the life in him as well as in the church of Thessalonica. Our hope in Christ gives life to our everything! It is our hope that keeps us going...

"Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." (Hebrews 12:1-4)