Today’s scripture selection: Matthew 23-25
Key verses: Matthew 24:35
As Jesus made his way toward Jerusalem, and the fulfillment of his destiny, it became painfully clear what was to come.
There would be suffering, and hardship, and conflict – there would be death – before there could be resurrection. In the coming days, his friends would try to persuade him otherwise – but Jesus knew what had to happen – and he “set his face” toward the city with grim determination.
But even while their world, their hope for a new kingdom seemed to be falling apart around them, Jesus also had those extraordinary words of comfort for his followers:
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Those are words that we can hold on to in our own uncertain and sometimes very dark times.
- What the world calls permanent and immovable, we know to be as only transitory.
- What the world calls security, we know to be false promises.
- What the world calls success, we know pales in comparison to real, eternal meaning
- What the world calls important, we know must be kept in proper perspective – seen from a “heavenly” point of view.
Heaven and earth will pass away – but the word of God stands firm forever.
So, don’t let the ups and downs of the “market” rattle your cage. Don’t let the media soothsayers or analysts weigh your spirit down with their doom and gloom predictions.
Yes, the times are changing – and the darkness on the horizon – it is real. But so are the light and love and promise and grace of Almighty God.
That’s how it has always been. That’s how it will always be.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to keep a heavenly perspective on life – and so find hope. AMEN.
By Paul Simrell
The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
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