Subject: A Thought of the Week (For What Is Seen Is Temporary) from Brother Michael - 5/5/2014

May 5, 2014

Brother,

 

I hope and pray all is well with you and your family.

 

“There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.” - Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

 

Daylight Savings time started a few weeks ago. Like most people, I love this time of year. Then springtime officially hit and some buds are showing. Awesome!  Longer days, warmer weather, more sun, outdoor activities (aka Golf), more energy, more color, people in better moods and life abounding everywhere. All this is even grander when contrasted to the elements of winter. I am continually amazed at (but don’t necessarily like) the cycle and uniqueness of the seasons God designed. To be truthful, except for Christmas, an occasional snow, and football, I do not like winter even a little bit.

 

Human life has a natural cycle too, one that has existed since the time of Adam and Eve. It is wise to recognize the seasons of life, including aging and death and to gracefully accept their effects on us. During our lives, circumstances are always changing. When these changes are beyond our control, we must graciously accept what comes our way. Whether the season is pleasant or painful, it is good to remember that only one season is permanent, the one that comes after we die and leave this temporary earthly residence.

 

Even though we intellectually believe a life after death exists, our natural lenses get caught up in the present. We act as if we believe that our current season here on Earth is for all-the-marbles, and that nothing else really exists after we physically die. What a sad perspective. But it’s one that many believe to be true. Satan has us fixated on getting our material needs met now, because we think the tangible is all that matters.

 

If our radar is dulled to the spiritual world and tuned to the material one, we are gauging our progress and needs based on the wrong radar. For example, seeing our physical prowess peak at ages 25-35, we view ourselves as declining thereafter. We can get more bummed out, or we can invest lots of time, energy, and money into milking the clock and extending our physical life. But really, our essence of experience and living is psychological and especially spiritual, not physical.

The true person we are, the inner person, can grow stronger even while our physical person is wasting away. God is completing the work He started in us. And that completed, ultimate state is for eternity. The goal of all the seasons we experience is growing our spiritual radar so we can sense God and connect to Him in joyous and powerful ways as we develop the Mind of Christ.

 

We need to identify whether we are in a good season or a rough one. Enjoy the good one if we are there. But if we are in a rough one, we need to ask ourselves how God is growing us on the inside. Then let this season draw us closer to Him. Remember, the time that our loved ones and we spend in physical, emotional, psychological, and relational discomfort in these bodies is nothing compared to the eternity we will spend in perfect wholeness in God’s presence. Please also understand that discomfort is one of the necessary seasons we need to pass through to get to the final, completed, season of perfect relationship with God in eternity. Thank You, Jesus! Whether we handle our seasons of adversity by putting on God’s spiritual lenses or we put on physical and now-centered lenses is and will always be our decision.

 

Let us pray, Dear Father God, guide us through all the seasons of life and help us trust You through each one. Help us, and especially those suffering physically, emotionally, or psychologically, to have an eternal perspective. Help us submit to Your perfect knowledge as You bring each season  into our lives, even the difficult ones. Help us maximize our growth in those seasons to draw closer to Your peace and to glorify You. We pray this and all prayers in Your Holy and Name – AMEN.

 

Have a great and BLESSED week. 

 

Please remember I am here for you in thought, prayer and action – 24x7.

 

STAY STRONG!

 

Love-Your Brother and Friend in Christ,

 

Michael
(484)431-9336 (Home & Cell)
(484)595-9744 (Work)

 

PS - Please keep Tuesday, 5/6 at 1:00 PM in prayer for me as I have an interview with a Pharma company in Conshohocken.  Thank you Brother I appreciate it.