The Jewelry Store Caper

The Jewelry Store Caper

 

Dear Champions,

 

This short excerpt is attributed to Soren Kierkegaard, and the scripture is in the excerpt.

 

One night, a group of thieves broke into a jewelry store. But rather than stealing anything, they simply switched all the price tags. The next day no one could tell what was valuable and what was cheap. The expensive jewels had suddenly become cheap, and the costume jewelry, which had been virtually worthless before, was suddenly of great value. Customers who thought they were purchasing valuable gems were getting fakes.  Those who couldn't afford the higher priced items were leaving the store with treasures.

 

In our world someone came in and switched all the price tags.   It's hard to tell what is of value and what is not.   Great value is given to the accumulation of material wealth and the power that goes with it.   The world puts a high price on popularity, prestige, beauty, and fame.   But Jesus taught that such things are virtually worthless in the only "jewelry store" that matters: the kingdom of God. 

 

Luke 16:14-15 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, 'You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God's sight. 

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

First Steps To Happiness…Humility

First Steps To Happiness…Humility

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Whit Criswell & the scripture is in the excerpt.

Psychology Today magazine did a survey and asked 52,000 people, "What would it take to make you happy?"  In order of most votes were:  friends and social life, good job, love, recognition, sex, good financial situation, owning a house, being attractive, health, religion, recreation, being a parent, marriage, and for their spouse to be happy.  The interesting thing is happiness is mostly sought through external situations rather than internal ones.  Then does happiness mean having the right circumstances?

The wisest and wealthiest man ever was Solomon, and he said he was going to deny himself nothing in order to find happiness.  He found three deadends:  accumulating things, experiencing all kinds of pleasure, and achieving success.  He concluded, "All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind" (Ecclesiastes 2:17).  The world's view of happiness is having the right circumstances, but God's idea of happiness is having the right attitude.

In Matthew 5, Jesus repeatedly said, "Blessed," which means, "Happy are you.  He said that happiness is not determined by what's happening around or outside of me, but rather what's happening inside of me! The first step to happiness is humility.   "Blessed are the Poor in Spirit."  Compared to a holy and righteous God, we are filthy rags.  

It means that I don't have it all together!"  Humble and happy go together.  I can be real, no more faking or pretending.  This reduces my stress.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Grace

Grace

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Dave Busby, and the scripture is Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.

Do you know what most Christians' good news is?  They start with the fact that you are a sinner and need to receive the gift of salvation.  That part is true, then they add . . .

'Now you must do this and this and this if you want to continue to keep God happy with you!'

And so most Christians feel that God is disappointed with them.  They think that they're never doing well enough.  They are living under the list.  Maybe they started out living by grace, but now they have regressed to living under the rules.

The more we understand grace-that our acceptance and our value to God are not based on our performance, the more we can begin to REST—because of what Jesus has already accomplished. 

The more I understand grace, the more it has motivated me to fall deeper in love with Jesus.  Grace motivates me far more towards holiness than pressure to keep a list ever could.  Maybe it's just harder to sin against love and grace than to sin against the law.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Jesus Holds Us

Jesus Holds Us

 

 Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Joe Novenson, and the scripture is in the excerpt.

 

Sunday, August 16, 1987, Northwest Airlines Flight 225 crashed outside of Detroit.  One hundred fifty-five people and all of the crew were dead.  The crash was incredible, absolutely decimating the plane.  There was one survivor; a four-year-old girl named Cecilia.  When the airplane investigators found her they thought that she was probably a resident.  Maybe the plane landed on her house, and maybe she was in a car nearby.  They checked the registrar, and her name was on the plane.  She was still in the seatbelt and alive but how? 

 

After she came to, and they could interview her, this is her story.  Her mother, as the plane was falling, disconnected her own seatbelt, got on to the seat with her daughter, jammed both her knees on either side of her four year old daughter legs, grabbed the back of the chair, and held on.  So when the plane crashed, behind her she had seat and in front of her she had mother.  All of the impact of the crash was assumed by chair and by Mom.  She lived because someone grabbed her and held her. 

 

Jesus grabs and holds on to us.  John 10:27-28 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining