How's Your Vision?

When it comes to getting around in our world, adequate and if needed corrected vision is important. Without vision a person must hone their other senses and sometimes accept help from another who is sighted; a helping animal or a special friend.

In the Old Testament portion of the Bible in Proverbs 28:19 it says "Without a vision the people perish." If you want to stay alive and really live you must have good vision.

I offer to you this week a simple formula for living well with corrected vision. The sacred teachings do offer us some important correction for our sometimes skewed vision. I call this formula the P-T-L process.

Pray - talk often with God and seek wisdom and instruction.
Think - daily about what would Jesus do if he were in my shoes.
Learn - all you can about the rules of life as outlined in the sacred texts.

Check out this eye chart. Can you read it?

How are you doing at insightful vision this week?

Blessings

Rev. Bill McBride

Getting Yourself Out of the Way

How are you doing this week at getting yourself out of the way?

Bible Study on Humility (13 min)

Sometimes we hinder God's marvelous work in our lives and through our lives by getting in God's way. Yes we do! God needs a clear field of view and unhindered workspace to effectively do a good work. Just like we each in our everyday work do our best with unhindered space, such is true with God.
The issue this week is to understand that we get in God's way or push God off center and away from direct control when we think we do not need God's presence and influence or God's control over our lives.

It's called pride. Not the kind of proud feeling we deserve when we do a good job, finish a tough task or let our lights shine for others. It is the pride that puffs up the ego and says to the world, "Hey you all, I am number one around here and you all owe me a lot."

So, how do we get our of the way for God. Or put another way, how do we keep ourselves centered on God? Here are a few clues and helps for your actions this week.

1. Acknowledge that you are finite and limited in your power and ability.
2. Understand that God is neither limited or without power to handle everything.
3. Accept the fact and truth that you do get puffed up with self-righteous pride
4. Confess your tendency to push God off the throne of your life (sin) and ask God to take control again.
5. Find at least three things each day that you are grateful for, for which you had nothing to do.

Want a fulfilling week this week? Then get out of the way and give God controll all the way.

Blessings

Rev. Bill McBride

Faith and Hope Together

Faith and Hope are like sisters that need and depend on each other. A lot of times in studying the scriptures we go past faith and hope and move on to the importance of love. "Faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

But for this week consider how significant your faith and hope is to your love.


"Faith is the assurance of things you hope for" (Hebrews 11)
FAITH is belief in your mind


HOPE is feeling that conviction in your heart Feel your hope. It gives energy to your faith. Hope gives your faith a fighting chance.


See how well they go together and need each other?

Have a faith-filled and hopeful week.

Rev. Bill McBride

Any New Things Lately?

Seen any new things happening in your life today? If your answer is no, you need to wake up and smell the roses. There are "new things" happening all the time all around you. and most of them are GOOD! Sure bad stuff does happen to good people, but most of the time good things are happening, we just fail to see them and learn and appreciate them. What a shame!

God is re-creating your world almost every moment. Our challenge is to look ahead with hope and promise. Sometimes though, we are afraid to look ahead with promise and possibility because we wonder if life today or tomorrow will be any better than life yesterday?

In Isaiah 43 God is about to bring His chosen people back to their land from captivity in Babylon. On the doorstep of freedom they think back to when God released them from captivity in Egypt. They wonder if things will ever be as good as they were in the past?

Isaiah 43:16-21 (The Message) This is what God says,  the God who builds a road right through the ocean, who carves a path through pounding waves, The God who summons horses and chariots and armies— they lie down and then can't get up; they're snuffed out like so many candles:"Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it? There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands. Wild animals will say 'Thank you!' —the coyotes and the buzzards—Because I provided water in the desert, rivers through the sun-baked earth, Drinking water for the people I chose,  the people I made especially for myself, a people custom-made to praise me.

God has to remind them through the prophet Isaiah, that their Creator is always in the process of making things new for those who trust and believe.

This is our contemporary lesson form this peak into history.

• Do you believe that today can be a new day for you?
• Do you enter into the day with the expectation that there is something useful and helpful to learn, if you simply look around you and observe?

If you do and if you can, you are well on your way to attracting all the good you deserve. Go for it! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Blessings

Rev. Bill McBride