|
Last weekend we were expecting my sister and her family to visit. We didn’t know exactly what time they would arrive, but I expected it would be around noon. I had a bit more house cleaning to do in preparation for their visit, and I needed to pick up a few groceries, but I thought I had plenty of time. I was out walking and missed a text from her at 7:14am that stated, “leaving now.” Imagine my surprise when they pulled into my yard an hour later - and my children’s surprise to be awakened by their cousins! Sometimes we know an event is supposed to occur, but we are surprised when it actually happens, or by the means in which it happens. The opening verses of Matthew describe such a scenario. The Old Testament prophets Isaiah and Micah prophesied, “the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel;” and “But you, Bethlehem...out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel.” Isaiah was written around 175BC, and Micah between 735 and 700BC. Ample notification was given. When Jesus was actually born, God gave a sign, a star, visible sign for all the world to see. It was there, but the notification went unnoticed, but not by everyone, just most people.
To have been surprised by His initial coming held no consequence. To be surprised by his return will have consequences. I say “surprised,” as in unprepared. When my sister arrived, I was not prepared, I still had dishes to wash, and bathrooms to clean. I knew she was coming, but she arrived before I could do the things I needed to do. We know that Jesus is coming, but we do not know when. If He arrives and we are not ready, there will be consequences. The consequence will be more than a little embarrassment, it will be death. We don’t know when, but, as Luke said, “No word from God will ever fail.” His arrival will be unexpected, but we should expect it.
We must understand and believe Jesus’ purpose. Jesus is the Son of God, and also the Son of Man. He is fully man, as we see from his lineage outlined in Matthew 1. He is fully God, as He was not conceived by man and woman, but by the Holy Spirit. As John 1:1-4 explains, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” Because mankind is sinful, and “every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart [is] only evil all the time,” (Gen. 6:5) we desperately need a savior. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17) What should we do as we wait expectantly? First and foremost - and I will leave you to ponder on this until next week - we must. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) Paul offers these instructions in Romans 10:9-11 ”If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” We must confess our sins. If we fail to realize and admit that we are sinners in need of a savior, then our sin will be ours to bear at the time of Jesus’ return - which could be today or 5 years from now, or 10,000 years from now. We don’t know when, but we know He will come. If we are not ready, we will be put to shame. Expect it. Have you repented of your sins? Are you trying to live a live that is pleasing until Jesus. Are you trying to live like Jesus lived - most certainly you will fall short, but a repentant heart, one that yields to God, is convicted of wrong, one that asks forgiveness and consciously seeks to let his light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify his Father in Heaven is the first step. Expect it. He will come again. If you want to leave this Earth with Jesus and live out eternity in Heaven, your time has come. If you want to discuss this decision, reach out to me or another believer you know and trust. Tune in next week, for Expect It - Part 2, as there is more. Amen. Expect It - it could be this week! I hope everyone found a blessing in these words. Amen. Kim
1 Comment
There’s no debate that Covid-19 is altering our life experience - the debate is what we should do about it. In our quest to make decisions about what we should do, and how to best operate within the constraints of the powers-that-be, complaints seem to arise. I hear them. I am even guilty of my own complaints. On Thursday, I had grown weary of listening to complaints, I suppose, which caused me to make the following Facebook post.  Some would call it a coincidence that on that same afternoon, I had an encounter with two teachers who poignantly told me they have no complaints! I don’t think it was a coincidence, I think it was the Lord’s way of giving me the message to share with you today. A few years ago, as we experienced a bit of a teacher shortage, we began to seek out teachers in other countries who wanted to teach in the USA. I’ve had many conversations with two of our Filipino teachers in the past three years, but usually it’s about Science curriculum. Recently, I’ve wondered why we have not made their presence more of a cultural experience - I guess it’s because we are so focussed on the academics, that we/I don’t take the time to ask. When we/I don’t ask, we don’t learn. On Thursday, I asked. “So, how is the pandemic being handled in the Philippines as compared to the USA or Rock Hill?”
One of the teachers actually traveled to her home land in August, so she had firsthand, recent knowledge. She hung her head and said, “Oh, Mrs. Massey, it is really sad. The quarantines, they’re mandatory, and harsh, they lock you down and you think you are doing to die, and it’s in a hotel room at your expense! Not like here where you quarantine and get bored so you go outside or go for a ride in your car for a while.” She laughed, “We don’t even have a car there!” I asked how they got around, “We walk! We walk to work and everywhere else. I walk to work now sometimes if it’s not raining. I live 1.2 miles away, at home I live 2 miles away from my school, so this is nothing.” They remarked on the weather here. They said they love the bright sunny weather without all the rain. In comparison, I learned that while here it might rain for a few hours, there it rains for weeks at a time. They said that at home, they would arrive at work at 6am and sometimes they did not leave to go home until 10pm. They cooked lunch for the students and served it to them. They were required to keep track of each student’s height and weight. If a student was overweight, they would put them on an obesity plan, and for those underweight, they had to feed them more and take more frequent measurements. As teachers, they purchased their own laptop, they enrolled new students, taught three grade-levels in the same room and they did it for what would translate to less than $500 per month. “So, what we are doing now, we don’t complain!” They laughed, “Mrs. Massey, we are glad to be here and you’ll never hear us complain. Disrespectful student, please! Zoom not working, so what! We don’t complain!” -------- Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 16Rejoice always, 17pray continually, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. AMEN - Have a wonderful week of praise! Kim In case you are busy and only have time to read the first part of this week’s message, let me cut to the chase. If you find that you are too busy to pray, you are a little too busy and something must change. Like many of you, I am busy. Some days it’s rush, rush, rush. Most weeks we only sit down as a family for a meal once or twice due to our multiple comings and goings! But prayer time...that’s a must. Sometimes it’s a brief few words, and at other times it’s a much more engaged time with the Lord. All prayer time is important and necessary. On Thursday evening around sunset, I was driving from Clover, SC home to Rock Hill, SC, only about 15 miles, but the windows were down and the temperature was perfect. While stopped at a red light, I realized I had not adjusted the radio and it was silent in the car. Almost reflexively I reached to adjust the volume, but decided to leave it off - that this was time I could spend with God. “Rejoice always, 17pray continually, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) Scripture advises that we should always rejoice in the Lord and be grateful for our circumstances. I don’t know your current situation, but it could be impacted by Covid-19 and it might not be preferred, BUT...it could be worse, and it might be preparation for something in the future! (See Romans 5:3-5) Sometimes we like to find a willing ear to listen to our complaints and unsolvable problems, when what we really need is to spend time with the Lord. He hears all, knows all, understands all, and is our ever-present help in times of trouble. We need to pray. (See Psalm 46:1) Luke 17, recalls a time when Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem along the border between Samaria and Galilee when 10 men afflicted with Leprosy approached him and asked for healing. He sent them to the priest and all were cleansed and healed. “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.” (v. 15-16) One of the ten returned to give thanks. I don’t know if this is an indication that only 10% of answered prayers are acknowledged with thanks to the Lord, but be sure you thank the Lord for His answers to your prayers. Thank Him again and again! I have a forgetful fourteen year-old who often causes me to run back to the house for things he forgot. This week, I thanked the Lord, again, for giving us a new home that was near work and school. I don’t think He minds if we thank Him multiple times for hearing our prayers! Don’t become too busy to pray. Be intentional with making time for prayer. Additionally, know that prayer is not just a time when you pour out your needs and wants to God. Prayer should be dialogue. Once you have praised Him, repented of your sins, made your requests to Him, you must yield to Him. When we yield, we are quiet, patient, and willing to accept His response - even if He answers in a way you didn’t propose! When we are quiet we may hear or feel His gentle whisper, a new method may be revealed, the solution to your problem may be clear. We must yield in obedience to Him recognizing that He is both omnipotent and omniscient - and we are not. Amen. Have a wonderful week of prayer. Kim
We cannot close as a District but could temporarily close the schools with the highest numbers - but what about siblings at other schools, what about parents who must go to work, what about those children who come to school to experience peace and love and joy, elements not found in their homes? If those schools remain open, the virus will continue to spread. There was no win-win scenario to choose. When we don’t have the answer, we can always go to Scripture for God’s insight. The final chapters of Genesis describe a crisis situation and it details how it was managed. I won’t explain the fascinating story of how Joseph became governor of the land, in charge of managing the famine, but it is worth the read. Because God shared with Pharoah through two dreams, that Joseph interpreted, that the famine was coming, they were somewhat prepared. One fifth of all the grain harvested in the seven years before the famine was collected and stored. The people did not feel the effects of the famine immediately, but when they did, they were able to buy food from Joseph, the grain stored from the previous years. Genesis 41:57 states, “And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.”
Once all of the people’s money was gone, Joseph enacted the next stage of his plan. “Then bring your livestock,” said Joseph. “I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock, since your money is gone.” (Gen. 47:16) After a year, all of the livestock belonged to Pharaoh and the people still suffered. “20So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh’s, 21and Joseph reduced the people to servitude,[c] from one end of Egypt to the other.” (Gen. 47:20-21) Since God had said the famine would last for seven years, as that seventh year approached, Joseph gave the people seed to plant, but stipulated that they must give one fifth of their crop to Pharaoh and keep four fifths for themselves and for seed. The people responded, “You have saved our lives,” they said. “May we find favor in the eyes of our lord; we will be in bondage to Pharaoh.” (Gen. 47:25) I will admit that I didn’t like this plan for famine management when I was studying it. It seemed as if Joseph was taking advantage of the people’s vulnerability - he made them buy food with all their money, they lost all of their livestock, their land, and even became servants to Pharoah through this ordeal, BUT...they lived and they appreciated Joseph’s leadership. Looking at our current situation, this is totally relevant. What can we learn? Everyone was not prepared for the Coronavirus pandemic, but some people were. There are highly trusted organizations devoted to the protection and monitoring of public health. They hire public health and epidemiology majors. I am referring to the World Health organization, the Centers for Disease Control, the SC Dept. of Health and Environmental Control, etc. We must submit to their advice - even when it’s not comfortable or when we don’t think it’s necessary. Everyone has an opinion, but not everyone’s opinion is relevant given the circumstances. Social media has given all of us a platform to share our voice - even if our voice is clueless, selfish, not data-based, or just for laughs. All of these opinions being shared makes for a lot of noise and it can drown out the voice of the experts and leadership. It seems the people submitted to Joesph’s plan without excessive complaining, rebellion or trying to do it their own way. We see no evidence in Scripture that they threatened Joseph’s or Pharaoh's life. We don’t see that they hesitated to comply with the rules - they may have hesitated, but through their hesitation they would have experienced the worsening of conditions, so they submitted to Joseph’s authority. Doctors have worn face masks for years! They don’t wear them to symbolize their MD status - they wear them as a filter preventing the spread of disease. It has been recommended that everyone wear a mask now to lessen the spread of this highly contagious, airborne virus. A face mask is not a fashion statement, it is not a political statement, it is personal protection. It is a basic defense mechanism for managing this pandemic. Vaccines have been administered for years! Vaccines have eradicated Polio, Rubella, Measles, Chicken Pox, and more. I admit I was skeptical about the Covid-19 vaccine initially, but I do trust the CDC, the FDA, and the WHO and I believe God has given certain people the wisdom and insight of specific means to save the masses, His people. We were not able to test it for 10 years - we may not have survived 10 years waiting for it. I submitted to the vaccine early on. In a way, it was an altruistic act. By being vaccinated, I am saving my life and hopefully the lives of others. If I get infected, I could infect 5 -6 others, they each could infect 5-6 more, etc. and someone might lose their life. If you truly want this situation to pass, you must submit to the advice of the experts and to the leadership of those we elected. We must be willing to give up ourselves for the benefit of the masses. Referring to Jesus on his way to the cross, “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’” (Mat 26:39) Jesus submitted to the will of the Father, not for His own sake, but for the masses. If we think about Jesus as a man, it was not win-win, but He did it for you and me. This week, think about what you need to do that doesn’t feel like a win for you, but might be a win for others. Amen! Thank you for reading! Let's all work together to overcome Covid-19. Kim |
AuthorKimberly G. Massey Archives
January 2022
Past Posts
Watch
|
RSS Feed