49ers for Jesus

“How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain better than fine gold.”

(Proverbs 3:13-14)

The New York Herald Printed news of the discovery of gold in August 1848 & the rush for gold accelerated into a stampede. When the news of the discovery spread, it resulted in some 300,000 men, women, & children coming to California from the rest of the United States & abroad. Gold seekers traveled overland across the mountains to California, some took the round-about sea routes, either to Panama or around Cape Horn & then up the Pacific coast to San Francisco. In their quest for unguaranteed fortune, the 49ers as they came to be known, risked life limb & sometimes family, as they traveled through often unsettled lands to quench their thirst for gold.

How great it would be if men & women would crave wisdom today as much as the 49ers did gold back in the 1800’s. Proverbs says that the man who finds wisdom is gaining something way more precious than Gold & Silver. But often we ask what true wisdom really is. In 1 Corinthians 1:30 we are told that Jesus Christ “…became to us wisdom from God…” Jesus is true wisdom, & in James we are told “…if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” The search for true wisdom, (Jesus Christ), is more profitable than anything anyone on earth could ever gain & it can be gained when we seek Him, but unlike the Gold Rush of 1849 finding this fortune is 100% guaranteed.

Vern

The Gospel from a Sicko

“It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.”

(Matthew 9:12)

As I sat in a packed waiting room at a local doctor’s office with my head felling like someone stuffed a bag of cotton balls up my nose, I couldn’t help but think about the time when Jesus was questioned by the Pharisees while at Matthew’s house, about why He was eating with tax collectors & sinners. Now my first question to them would have been, “Why are you guys here? Aren’t you hanging out with the same people?” I mean they were at Matthew’s house. But Jesus didn’t say that, He is much deeper than me…thank goodness. Jesus said "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.” This became I guess really evident to me as I sat in that waiting room. I started to notice that there wasn’t a well person there...except for this one guy, but he was there to bring his sick son to the doctor.

Some that were there, looked very sick, some didn’t. Some came at the first sign of their sickness, others like me, tried to take care of it themselves first & when it didn’t work then they came. The little boy that was there was swearing that he wasn’t sick at all. Never the less we were all there seeking the doctor for a cure no matter how we got there.

When we look at it we all need the Great Physician, we all need to be cured. Some understand that & have already come. Others are trying to handle it themselves & still some are denying that they have a problem at all. We all have to come to Jesus for the cure & when we are cured, we can bring others who are sick, so that they too can receive the purifying cure that Jesus, the Great Physician has for us all. Jesus is the only one that has ever been able to & will ever be able to truly furnish “universal healthcare”.

Vern

Dark Sanctuary

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

(Psalm 46:1)

A few days ago during the storm “Ida” created, I was on my way home from work & had a real urge to drop by the church to just sit in the sanctuary & read my Bible & pray, it has to be the most calming place, I really enjoy just sitting there in the quiet.

When I got there it was dark out & just a few people were at the church, none were in the sanctuary which was very dark. As I entered I flipped on a light switch right outside the sanctuary in the hallway just before you go through the door. The light is for our baptistery & it only aluminates the sanctuary slightly, just enough to read by & still hang on to that cozy, quiet, calming feeling. I sat down on the steps of the stage & just talked to God for a little while, when all of a sudden someone turned off the light. I could hear a few people in the hallway, they were headed out & turning off the lights as they went. I thought about turning it back on but there was a little light coming through the stained-glass windows, not enough to read by, but I felt that God wanted me just to “be still”, so I just decided to sit & be quiet…plus I didn’t want to give those ladies who were leaving a heart attack when they didn’t know I was there in the first place.

As I was sitting there I could hear the wind whipping around outside & the heavy rain being blown up against the building, it made me realize God’s true power & how secure I felt inside that sanctuary, even though there was a rough storm going on all around me. I started to find it hard to pray…I didn’t know why, just couldn’t focus on it. But then Psalm 46:10 came to mind…now I didn’t remember that it was Psalm 46 at the time, but I did remember the verse, “Cease striving and know that I am God” or as most of us have heard it, “Be still & know that I am God”. For the next 20 minutes, I just sat there, listening to the storm & God. At that time I understood why God decided that I needed to come to the sanctuary…I needed to seek His protection…to understand that in all the storms of life, He is my sanctuary. That no matter what happens in this world, no matter where I go or what happens to me, if I am in Him, He is my “refuge & strength, a very present help in trouble.” I really needed that time in God’s sanctuary & didn’t even know it…good thing He did.

Vern