Genesis 1:28:  And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
 

When God blesses, he's not treating people like they just sneezed. Nor is he shrugging his shoulders, as if to say, "Well, I really hope things work out for you." A blessing is not a wish; it's a divine word that actually does things. Accomplishes reality. All the verbs of this verse - being fruitful, multiplying, filling, etc. - will not be human trophies but divine gifts. Solely by His word of blessing do these things happen.

To hear the Father's word in Jesus is to be blanketed with blessings. His word of blood-bought pardon conceives faith in us. His word of resurrection life sparks new life in us. Like rain upon droughted soil, his powerful words fall into our weary lives, bringing a harvest of hope and joy.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

“Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). 

When the world would not take notice, God then dropped His very best and most personal Handkerchief—His own Son. This was the One who carried the very fragrance of God Himself. This Handkerchief was marked by His love and holiness. This was the One that God dropped in the hopes that finally He would catch the attention of the one He loved. Jesus expressed this hope in one of His parables, shortly before His crucifixion: 

“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” (Matthew 21: 33-40). 

When finally this pure and clean Handkerchief of God had been stained with blood, they would lay Him in a grave. Wrapping Him in linens, ironically, they would place over His face a “handkerchief” or a “napkin.” When He arose, we are told: 

 “Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the tomb, observed the linen cloths lying there, and the kerchief used to cover his head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded by itself” (John 20: 6-7).

I have always found it curious and humorous to think of Jesus rising up through the grave cloths and then neatly folding the face cloth to the side as if to make a little statement there in the tomb: “TA-DA!” 

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Revelation 21:1-4 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

What does a “saint” look like to you? What would be the words that you would use to describe one? When I ask that question to various classes, the responses I get back often include words like “holy,” “good,” “Christ like,” “God-fearing.” You get the idea. All good answers. The Greek word for saint, hagios, refers to “separate from common condition and use; pure; righteous.”

Those are helpful definitions, but I especially like the one that Frederick Buechner wrote: “In His holy flirtation with the world, God occasionally drops a handkerchief. These handkerchiefs are called Saints” (2004, p. 352). 

 What a marvelous picture of those saints God places in our lives. Add this thought to your pondering as well: 

 “God, the shy and proper lover whose heart has been stolen away by the world, drops a handkerchief in the pure, naïve hope that the world, that someone, will notice and pick it up and give it back and in so doing notice God and fall madly in love with God and talk with God, laugh with God, cry with God, even fight with God and fall asleep in His embrace” (Buechner, 1993.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Each day, we are faced with decisions as to what we will allow our minds to focus on. I cannot expect my day or my heart to be filled with joy if I choose to let my mind dwell on sinful or ungodly thoughts, or if I fill my calendar and time with issues that have no eternal significance. 

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace . . . “ (Galatians 5:22), but the soil of my heart is cultivated and nourished day by day with those things that I think and dwell on in my life. 

Paul’s teaching is not easy, but it is right on the mark when he guides us to re-direct our focus and thinking. I really like the way in which Richard Foster expresses it in “Celebration of Discipline” when he writes: 
 

“The decision to set the mind on the higher things of life is an act of the will. That is why celebration is a Discipline. It is not something that falls on our heads. It is the result of a consciously chosen way of thinking and living. When we choose this way, the healing and redemption in Christ will break into the inner recesses of our lives and relationships, and the inevitable result will be joy” (p. 195). 

Joy begins in the heart. All of our efforts will not give joy to life if the heart is not right. The only way to make the heart right is when we are covered in the righteousness of Jesus. If we are not right in Him and with Him, there will be no joy. A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit . . . All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast” (Proverbs 15:13, 15). 

While His righteousness gives me joy, I must remain alert. I know all too well that there is someone worse than the thief who wants nothing less than to steal away the peace and joy I have in Jesus. Satan will seek to do this by filling my mind with worry. My confidence, however, rests in knowing that God’s peace, like a military sentry, will patrol the boundaries of my mind and keep me in Christ Jesus.
 

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6). 

The best way I know how to deal with worry is to stop focusing on me and to begin focusing on God. And the best way I know how to do that is in prayer and in worship. The result will be that God’s peace, beyond my understanding, will guard my heart and mind and keep watch over me. His peace then helps me to let my mind and heart be at rest. I find it intriguing that the original language for “guard” is a military term for “sentry,” one who keeps watch over something valuable. 

Rejoice. Relax. Rest. 

These three make it possible for me to celebrate. I wish I could say that joy comes simply through prayer and telling ourselves not to worry. It isn’t that easy. You know that, and I know that. I am saved by grace and grace alone. I have no part in that whatsoever. This does not mean, however, that once I am in the faith God does not have certain expectations of me. Living with a spirit of joy and celebration is rooted in the peace that God alone provides me. Yet Paul, in the way of a command, places this right at our feet: 

 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4: 8-9). 
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

The Cookie Thief 

A woman was waiting at an airport one night for several long hours before her flight. She hunted for a book in the airport shop, bought a bag of cookies, and found a place to drop. She was engrossed in her book but happened to see that the man beside her, as bold as could be, grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between, which she tried to ignore, to avoid a scene. She read, munched cookies, and watched the clock, as the gutsy “cookie thief” diminished her stock. She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by, thinking, “If I wasn’t so nice, I’d blacken his eye!” With each cookie she took, he took one too. When only one was left, she wondered what he’d do. With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh, he took the last cookie and broke it in half. He offered her half as he ate the other. She snatched it from him and thought, “Oh brother— This guy has some nerve, and he’s also rude. Why, he didn’t even show any gratitude!” She had never known when she had been so galled, and sighed with relief when her flight was called. She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate, refusing to look back at the “thieving ingrate.” She boarded the plane and sank in her seat, then sought her book, which was almost complete. As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise. There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes! “If mine are here,” she moaned with despair, “then the others were his, and he tried to share!” Too late to apologize, she realized with grief, that she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief. (Author unknown.) 

 That story reminds me that sometimes in life you just have to laugh at yourself and not take yourself too seriously. Being carefree is no easy thing. There is a lot that bogs us down with the cares of the day. This is what I love about God’s Word. It can be so deep while, at the same time, so practical. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” But is that practical? Paul continues, “. . . Do not be anxious about anything.” I kind of like the way the King James Version expresses it: “Be careful for nothing.” That is actually a way of expressing the negative side of “rejoicing.” Paul says that the way in which we can rejoice is to be “full of care about nothing” (don’t become filled with anxiety). Jesus was getting at the same thought when He taught: 

 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” (Matthew 6:25).
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Rev. Dr. Brent L Parrish

Our worship focuses on Jesus. Along with this, Jesus even provides us with the words to offer Him, the water that cleanses, and the bread and wine that nourish us. He gives me the Spirit to enlighten me as to His goodness. It is truly all about Him. He serves us before we can serve Him. 

For me, the joy of worship is that it gives me the opportunity to celebrate His goodness and faithfulness with other believers. I hear someone once in a while say, “I can worship God at home or in the woods.” I suppose they are right, but why would you want to, in place of celebrating it with other believers? The questions I want to ask someone who says that are, “Would you want to celebrate your birthday alone?” “Would you want to celebrate a Super Bowl win alone?” It is only natural that at times of celebration we seek to share that joy. This, to me, is the beauty of congregational worship. It adds to our joy while, at the same time, uniting us as one Body. God asked Israel in the Old Testament to gather together three times a year to celebrate His goodness. Those were festival holidays. Those moments gave them joy and strength and unity. 

The Christian Church of the twenty-first century needs this no less. One of our most enticing mission responses that we can offer the world is the witness of believers in the celebration of worship. 

On a clear night, look up at the stars and try to count them. Stand in awe of Him. Look at your eye in the mirror. Your retina is thinner than paper, yet its tiny surface contains 137 million light-sensitive cells. Blink your eyes in wonder. Then look into His Word and see Him on the Cross. He is there for you. See the empty Tomb. You need not fear the grave any longer. Then, with other believers, let your soul magnify Him in worship
 

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Rev. Dr. Brent L Parrish