| Clergy Corner

CLERGY CORNER: Laughter as medicine

Posted on 25 October 2012 by LeslieM

Laughter can be the best medicine. It won’t cost you anything, and it is one of the purest forms of medicine on the market. In times of doubt, hold on to the promises God has given you in the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When we have God in our lives, these character traits can grow in us.

PROVERBS 17:22

22 A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. AMP

PSALMS 30:11-12

11 You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,

12 that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever!

NLT

In 1998, Universal Studios released a movie entitled Patch Adams, named for the man whose story it tells. If you saw the movie, you may recall that Adams chose to go back to school late in life because he wanted to help people. His only roadblock was the system. One thing he felt was necessary for the recovery of his patients was laughter – a sound often missing from the halls of hospitals around the world. He brought a personal touch and smile to patients, many of whom were dying.

It’s been over 40 years since Patch Adams founded Gesundheit, the hospital, and it still prides itself on fun. Besides offering free healthcare, two main elements of its vision are:

• All patients are treated as friends.

• The healthcare experience is infused with fun.

Job 8:21

21 God will let you laugh again; you’ll raise the roof with shouts of joy, (The Message Bible)

It sometimes can seem impossible to laugh when someone is sick, or unthinkable to joke if bad news comes our way.

Laughter offers more than a distraction from the pain. It offers healing and revitalizing medicine for our souls. In fact, laughter has been found to medically decrease stress, strengthen the immune system, relax the muscles, benefit the heart and lungs, and decrease pain by releasing endorphins which produce a sense of general well-being. Laughter is a gift from God for our souls.

As the proverbs states, laughter is good medicine, healing and rejuvenating. I, for one, am thankful that grief is not a permanent condition. A cheerful and positive outlook can make a world of difference in the most difficult situations. God can always bring joy out of tragedy and exchange mourning for laughter. It’s not always easy to smile when things are tough, but we can have a joyful heart. Even Paul, when he was in jail, found joy in his sufferings, because he trusted in the Lord and knew the best was yet to come.

Find your joy. Take your medicine … because the best is yet to come

Pastor Tony Guadagnino

Christian Love Fellowship Church

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CLERGY CORNER: It’s personal

Posted on 18 October 2012 by LeslieM

In the midst of preparing for the New Year, I was strangely offended by a request for forgiveness. You see, as the New Year approaches, it is up to each of us to really think about things we have done that may have in some way hurt someone, and we are to go to each particular individual and actually ask for their forgiveness.

There is a formula we use to ask for such forgiveness. “If by action/inaction, speech/silence, presence/absence, I have in any way offended you, I ask your forgiveness. May you have happiness, love, peace, joy and prosperity and may our friendship strengthen in the year ahead.”

A “friend” made such a request for forgiveness. The words did not offend me. The words are good and holy words … words that can and should lead to forgiveness and peace. The problem is that those words were not delivered in person, or by phone or by the U.S. Postal Service. No, those words were sent to me via e-mail … and those very same words were sent to a huge number of other people. In fact, the e-mail heading wasn’t even addressed with my or anyone else’s name. It simply began “Dear Friend.”

Years ago, I became a Bar Mitzvah. I gave the usual “Today I am a man” speech. I was now responsible for my own actions, my own prayers. I was now responsible for fulfilling my obligations to G-d, to my people, to other beings and to the world.

Much of it was ritualistic, but nonetheless, still of great import. But, my first task as a member of the adult community was to acknowledge every single gift by writing a “Thank You” note. I was the youngest son of a Rabbi who had been the leader of a congregation for more years than some of you have been alive, so there were no less than 1,000 cards to write. And, I was taught that you don’t wait three or six months to write those cards. You do it as quickly as possible. That is your responsibility and each note of thanks should be personal in nature.

I remember one gift … a Cross Pen. It was gorgeous and in the card I wrote something along the lines of, “I want to thank you so much for the beautiful pen. It is the best pen I have ever owned. It is so great that I will not take it to school with me. Instead, I will only use it at home for special things, things like writing this “Thank You” note to you for your thoughtfulness, which I so greatly appreciate. And, I want you to know I am going to use this pen to write each and every one of the “Thank You” notes that I need to send out for all the presents I received on the occasion of my Bar Mitzvah.” The family I sent this note to was so touched that they not only sent me a letter thanking me for the “Thank You” note, but they called and told my parents how much they enjoyed the personal touch.

When my parents hung up from that phone call, they came to me and told me I had done a very adult thing. I had taken a gift given to me and used it to make the giver happy. G-d gives us so many gifts. Let’s get personal and make His gifts count.

With blessings,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Israel of Deerfield Beach. He also works in the field of Professional Chaplaincy with several healthcare providers in the area, including L’Chaim Jewish Hospice, Sunrise Health and Rehab Center, Park Summit, Advocate Home Health Services, St. John’s Health and St. Anthony’s Rehab Hospital.

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CLERGY CORNER: The eye of a needle

Posted on 10 October 2012 by LeslieM

Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t need to eat or drink for weeks or even months? Imagine you were so strong you could carry hundreds of pounds of cargo without requiring one gallon of gasoline, without producing one drop of sweat!

Do you know who I am yet? I will provide more clues! I am long-legged, awkward and ugly. I don’t have the need for liquids for long periods of time because I have three 5-gallon stomachs. I don’t have the need for food for long periods of time because I have this hideous hump of fat on my back that stores energy I need for when I don’t have any food at all.

It may look like I hold my head up high out of arrogance, but in reality, I’m just trying to see out from underneath my big ol’ bushy Andy Rooney eyebrows. Those eyebrows, by the way, are my only eye protection from the bright sun’s harmful rays. I also hold my head up high because it’s easier for me to breathe with my nose up in the air so I don’t have to smell myself. I am not blessed with the pleasant aroma of a cool mountain breeze. In other words, I stink!

And sometimes, when I’m breathing, it may sound as if I am suffering from an advanced stage of emphysema, but in reality, I’m just spitting and snorting because of yet another imperfection. I am ill-tempered.

One of my rewards for being what and who God created me to be was to be classified as unclean. Thank you very much. At least that meant some people wouldn’t eat me, but after carrying people to war, giving them the hair off my back, milk to drink and working so hard they call me the ship of the desert, I would like a little respect.

I am camel. Hear me snort.

I hope you enjoy a good laugh as I describe myself, how the world looks at me and how I look back at the world, but the truth is we may have a lot in common you and me, providing you’re the person God created you to be.

Like you, I think it would be nice to be valued by the world for being who God created me to be, for doing what God created me to do, but it’s obviously more important to be valued by God. Unlike you, I am among the ironies of the Bible. In the Old Testament, when someone owned many camels, it was a sign of wealth and privilege. In the New Testament, Jesus uses me as an example when he says it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 19, Mark 10, Luke 8). How ironic is that? I can’t speak from the perspective of a rich person. I don’t have material possessions. I don’t have money to give to the poor, but I’ve given everything I have. The weight on my back has never been my own. It’s always been everybody else’s. These are words Jesus himself might speak.

So make do with what you’ve been given and give back what you can. If a smelly camel can have a unique Godly purpose on Earth then what greater significance does God hold for you? Be who God created you to be. Hold your head up high and let the whole world wonder why! You might even get a little respect. All things are possible with God!

Come this weekend to Saturday @ six or Sunday morning at 8:30 or 11 a.m. The message is “The Camel and Me” based on Mark 10.

Honored to write for the camel,

Rev. Dr. Dennis Andrews

Reverend Andrews is Minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach) located five blocks south of Hillsboro on AIA. See more @ www.communitych.org or on Facebook.

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CLERGY CORNER: Boxed in or out of the box

Posted on 03 October 2012 by LeslieM

Today, I want you to think out of the box. Why out of the box? Well, I guess it’s because we deal with so many boxes. For instance, who among us [Jews] doesn’t have memories of the blue and white pushkas, the Tzedakah Boxes? And everyone knows that giving charity is a holy mitzvah. How about the boxes that fulfill the Mitzvah of Donning the Tefillin? One box is to be inscribed between your eyes and one box is to be bound upon your arm … and, inside both of these boxes are holy words…

Even at the end of our days on Earth, we still have one last box to deal with … our casket, which will hold the holy vessel, the cask that held our spirit, our neshama, inside during our lifetime.

Oh, and there is another box that we have in our faith. In fact, it is the box, the hut, that we build for Sukkoth.

On Sukkoth many eat in a box, many sleep in a box, and, barring severe weather, will make the Kiddush and the Hamotzi in a box, a hut, a Sukkah. Rabbi Edythe Held Menscher recently wrote about a documentary film called, “G-d In The Box,” where a film crew took a portable studio, a box if you will, all over the country and asked people to step inside the box.

Now, if you are claustrophobic, being inside a box might not be such a good thing, so you might need to concentrate on a subject that would really occupy your mind … and, sure enough, the filmmaker asked just such a question. He asked, “What does G-d mean to you?” and “What does G-d look like?”

The studio, the box they went into, contained paper and pencil and a huge mirror; so each person had to take a good hard look at themselves.

Really looking at ourselves is not such an easy thing to do. Just ask those who spent Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in honest self-reflection.

The funny thing is, as Rabbi Mencher points out, at the end of “G-d in The Box,” there are a series of photos of synagogues

of churches and of mosques because our Houses of Worship can be likened to a box, a box where we explore what G-d means to us and what G-d wants from us.

I was trying to figure out how to end this article. I went to the cupboard and took out a box of cereal and I noticed a very simple, yet very true thing. If I didn’t open up the box, I would never be nourished by the cereal inside. So, too, the Synagogue, my friends, so, too, the Sukkah … being in the box is a great way to quiet yourself down and focus on holy and G-dly things, but just thinking about things, just praying for things, is not enough. Let us have the saichel, the good common sense, to think out of the box and may it nourish us, our family, our friends and our community and let us say, Amen.

Shalom My Friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

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CLERGY CORNER: Using their heads

Posted on 20 September 2012 by LeslieM

If I were to talk to either of my brothers, it would not surprise me to find that they have purchased a new article of clothing for the Jewish New Year. It might be a suit, or a tie, or a shirt, but they will both have something new to wear.

And yet, the same time, they, and I, will be wearing something old. We might wear something that was from one of our parents of blessed memory – a tie, a ring, a watch, a tallit, a skull cap (better known as a kippah or a yarmulke).

You see, we maintain some of our parent’s traditions with some of what we wear, especially in regard to religious articles, but we also realize the importance of having something new, not just new clothes, but something new in our approach to Judaism.

Keeping some of the old and adding some new is not such a bad thing. In fact, it just might be a great way to enter the New Year with a new outlook.

Today, I would like to approach this focusing on one article that easily identifies one as Jewish. Let me introduce it with a story from a cartoon that appeared in an Israeli paper many years ago during a visit from the Pope in which the caption read, “The Pope is the one with the Yarmulke.”

Yarmulkes or, Kippot (in Hebrew), have come a long way from my zaide’s time. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes – silk, knitted, crocheted, leather. They come with the logos of your favorite sports team. They come with pictures of super heroes, almost any design you can imagine can be put on a kippah now.

Some wear them all the time. Some only wear them in the Synagogue. Some wear them at work and some only at home. In Israel, you can actually tell someone’s religious leanings by the size and color of their Yarmulke, and, with the elections coming up here in America, don’t be surprised to see some of our people in blue and some in red, instead of the traditional white for the High Holy Days.

If you are walking out on the street, or going into a store, or heading into a meeting and you want people to know that you are Jewish, all you have to do is wear a Kippah … and, sadly, in many cases, you will be looked on with hate and scorn.

Back in Nazi Germany, wearing a Yarmulke could be a death sentence – a one-way ticket to the gas chambers. Well, let me tell you how things have stayed the same in the world and also how things have changed as we approach the New Year 5773. Rabbi Alter was wearing a Yarmulke walking down the streets in Vienna a few weeks ago and a group of antisemites beat him to a pulp.

As I said, some things haven’t changed. Some things remain the same and that is not always such a good thing. But, things have also changed and, sometimes, that is a very good thing, such as, after the attack, several residents of Berlin decided to show their support for the Rabbi and for the Jewish people by donning yarmulkes on their keppes… now that’s what I call using your noggin (using your head).

If non-Jews in Berlin can openly show solidarity with us by wearing Kippot, perhaps, in the year ahead, we will come to show more solidarity with each other and, if so, what a wonderful year this could be.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is a member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and serves in this capacity in a number of Health Care settings in the area including Advocate Home Care Services and L’Chayim Jewish Hospice in Partnership with Catholic Hospice of Broward County.

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CLERGY CORNER: “The season” of presidential politics

Posted on 12 September 2012 by LeslieM

“The season” in South Florida means two very different times of year. Most prevalent is the season when cold winds blow up north and winter residents and vacationers stream south in search of paradise.

A second season is when hot winds blow down south. We watch the Weather Channel during this season, at the ready to put up shutters, gather supplies, hunker-down or flee in search of safety and security.

Every four years, along with the rest of our great nation, we have another season. It is “the season” of presidential politics. This season combines many of the characteristics and objectives of the first two! I will leave it to you to draw your own parallels!

I recently watched portions of both national political conventions. Carefully-crafted speeches by two accomplished and genuinely brilliant men, President Obama and Governor Romney, bore true two themes found in the letter of James, brother of Jesus.

“All of us make mistakes” and “No one can completely tame the tongue.” [James 3] These eternal truths amazingly presuppose speech writers and teleprompters.

Imagine how inspiring, how compelling both conventions could have been had every speaker and speech from the podium commenced with and then followed the instruction of the 19th Psalm. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer!”

I realize to always give highest and top priority to pleasing God is a challenge for all of us. And, my nose might begin to grow if I were to suggest pleasing God is the strategic aim of a national political convention. Most would agree a convention’s goals are more, shall we say, “down to Earth.” But hope springs eternal …

I grew up being attentive and engaged in politics and I still believe politics and governing are enormously important. I encourage anyone who believes otherwise to read the 13th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans. A careful reading of these verses may drive you to the polls!

Theologian John Calvin’s take on Paul’s writings on government is that civil power originates with the sovereign God. In other words, God is the foundation, not the footnote; the farm, not the farmer. God is source and supplier, not client or customer. Surely people of every political bent can agree we did not build ourselves!

I think the outcome of every election is important, and this year’s presidential election is no exception, but I believe the fate of our nation is always and forever in the hands of God, who is the author of the liberty we champion. What I recommend for every season is that we not look to government for paradise or even for lasting safety and security. These things, much like all God’s seasons, are things of God, not men.

An important endnote from Calvin’s writings on “Religion in the Public Square” is not surprisingly his focus on the church itself.

Calvin did not see church and state merged into a theocratic monster. He called instead for the church to energize distinctly under the leadership of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit to be the world-changing community. May this be “the season” for that! And may God bless America in all her seasons!

Cross the bridge and join us this weekend: Saturday evening at 6 p.m. or Sunday morning at 8:30 or 11 a.m. www.communitych.org.

This Weekend’s Message is “The Season.”

Reverend Dr. Dennis Andrews is Minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach) located five blocks south of Hillsboro on AIA.

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CLERGY CORNER: Prepare or panic

Posted on 29 August 2012 by LeslieM

In the book of Ecclesiastes, it says that there is a time for everything under the sun.

There is a time to prepare, a time to practice, a time to take the test, a time to maneuver obstacles, but I do not see a time to panic or a time to live in fear.

God has a plan and a time for things in our lives, and He does not need us adding anything to His plan like fear or panic. God did not say that we would never have storms in our lives, but He did promise to be with us through our storms in life. We must learn to trust Him and know that we can make it through with Him by our side. Remember that God will not allow us to go through anything we cannot handle.\

Proverbs 17:22

22: A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. NLT

When storms come, we must prepare for them because if we are not prepared, we will panic. Please do not prepare and panic. If you spend the time to prepare for the storms in your life, then why would you waste your time in fear of the storms? If you pray, then you should believe what you prayed for and, if you are not going to believe, then why pray? Every storm we go through helps prepare us for the next one that will come if we learn from our experiences. Every storm should bring us closer to God and enable us to trust and rely on Him more and more. Fear, mistrust and panic will crush our spirit and God wants better than that for us. A broken spirit will take your strength and crush you, but being cheerful, content and happy will, like good medicine, make you feel better.

Jeremiah 29:11

11: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. NIV

God is the one who has the plans for our lives and we need to follow His plans. We need to submit our lives to His will and obey His rules, not just the ones that do not interfere with our plans.

If there were a hurricane coming, it would do no good to only board up half of your house. You would be unprepared for the storm. When we take our eyes off God and put our eyes on the storm, we get distracted. Fear and panic are distractions in our lives and those distractions produce delays in what God has for us. Some things that distract us are:

· Television; sports and entertainment

· Material extremes – an overindulgence in anything will become a distraction

· Storms in life – whether a hurricane or a spiritual storm

· Work, when placed above God and commitments we made to God

Prepare for every storm in life by getting your house ready for a hurricane and getting your body and spirit ready for God’s plan for your life.

Pastor Tony Guadagnino

Christian Love Fellowship Church

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CLERGY CORNER: Encouragers

Posted on 15 August 2012 by LeslieM

I took up cycling as a hobby at age 40. A sports injury and surgery had ruled out several sports I enjoyed since childhood. It happens.

One of the organized cycling rides my first year was a one day trek across Indiana. Even the idea of a one-day, 160-mile bicycle ride seemed a little crazy and it proved to be. My posterior was sore for a week.

Late in the day of the ride, I was in trouble, about to run out of stamina and daylight. With several miles still to go and only 40 minutes remaining to cross the finish line, my prospects for completing the ride were fading as the sun neared the west horizon.

Chills and cramps intensified. Doubt grew. I didn’t think I could make it.

We find ourselves in this physical and mental place sometimes don’t we? We call it life!

I climbed a long hill and was pedaling only a few miles an hour with my head down when a van slowly passes. I am barely aware of the van’s existence when a young boy I had never seen before sticks his head out the window and yells out at me. “You can do it. You’re almost there. Keep going!” Tears begin to flow down my cheeks!

I am not positive the van or the boy is real. You may think I am kidding, but I am not. I wondered then, and I wonder now, if the boy was an angel, an encourager sent from God…..

Have you ever needed an encourager? Of course you have. Have you been an encourager to someone else? I hope you have.

From the first family to the patriarchs to Moses, the Lord is the premier encourager of all encouragers. And imagine, after 40 years, with Moses leading in the wilderness how Joshua must have felt when Moses rested with the patriarchs and left Joshua in charge with such a formidable job to do!

Talk about cramps, chills and exhaustion! Talk about the need for encouragement! But when the Lord commissions Joshua, the Lord does not appoint, anoint and walk away.

The Lord provides the path and the encouragement Joshua needs and the Lord provides the path and the ultimate encouragement we all need through Christ in order for us to finish the race set before us.

In fact, through faith in Christ, we are all called to be encouragers!

Paul says it this way to the Ephesians. “Since you have heard about Jesus and learned the truth that comes from him, let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” (Ephesians 4)

This is Good News to share!

As we swell with national pride and celebrate our success as a nation in the Olympics, we also need to celebrate encouragers behind the scenes. Behind every Olympian, behind all God’s children are encouragers, and God knows we need them.

We all know people who need encouragement for the long road and each of us are created and strategically-positioned to uniquely be that person for someone else. Most times, we are called to encourage family, friends and coworkers. Sometimes, we even have the chance to encourage a stranger.

But, all times, wherever and whenever there are encouragers, God is driving the van.

Thanks to my young unknown encourager, I finished what would prove to be my first of many treks across Indiana. I will forever remember the young encourager’s words, “You can do it. You’re almost there. Keep going!”

I will see that young man again some day beyond the west horizon …

Reverend Dr. Dennis Andrews is Minister at Community Presbyterian Church of Deerfield Beach (Steeple on the Beach) located five blocks south of Hillsboro on AIA. www.communitych.org.

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CLERGY CORNER: Reflect – the high holy days are coming

Posted on 08 August 2012 by LeslieM

David Maymon is the owner of Advocate Home Care Services. As one of the team chaplains, along with Father Linus, I am usually with David and the Advocate Team every Monday morning.

It is a wonderful group of people from very diverse backgrounds who busy themselves all week long trying to make sure that the people they care for have the right aide and we try to insure that by asking one very important question that David insists on – “If that was my mother or father, would I be comfortable with that aide?” If we can answer “Yes” to that question, then, the vast majority of the time, we are going to be right on target and make a wonderful match.

Most of you are familiar with the story of Fiddler On the Roof. And you know all about Yenta the Matchmaker; well, in a way, that is exactly what we do at Advocate, only we do not try to arrange marriages; we try to arrange caring and loving partnerships.

David knows how effective famous quotes can be and he has a knack for coming up with just the right phrase for every situation. He also happens to have two particular quotes nicely framed and hanging on the wall where we hold our meetings, and, before our meetings are over, those quotes are read aloud, each teaching a very important lesson to carry with us through our work week and back to our homes.

The first quote comes from Ettiene De Grellet, a Quaker missionary, who said [paraphrased], “I shall pass this way but once; therefore, let any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to anyone … let me do it now for I shall not pass this way again.”

And then there is the other quote on the wall … this one by one of the most well-known athletes of all time, Muhammad Ali, a convert to the Muslim faith, who said, “The fight is won or lost far away from the witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road long before I dance under those lights.” To Ali’s quote, if you want to win a battle, you had better be prepared and have the strength and skill that only intense training can give you.

David is a good soul, and he is also wise enough to know that wisdom comes from many places and that everyone has much they can teach us … and those two quotes he has hanging in the office are so true.

How often do we hold off on doing something special and loving? Perhaps, at this very moment, while you are reading these words, there is someone next to you who could really use your attention – a tender smile, a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on.

Ali was right. The battle is won or lost long before we enter into it and De Grellet was right, we need to live in the moment and do whatever we are able to help others in need. And, David is right as well, and as he would so eloquently put it; “Reflect” and may you not only carry these words in your heart, but may you put them into action and may the actions you take be for a blessing.

The High Holy Days are soon approaching. Let us prepare for them by doing whatever we can to be of service.

Shalom my friends,

Rabbi Craig H. Ezring

Rabbi Ezring is the rabbi at Temple Beth Israel in Century Village of Deerfield Beach. During the week, he continues his work as a Hospice and Health Care Chaplain. He is a member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and of the Association of Professional Chaplains.

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CLERGY CORNER: See it to believe it

Posted on 02 August 2012 by LeslieM

 

I was talking to a Broward Sheriff Officer I know who works in Deerfield Beach. I told him that he almost caught me speeding a few days before that. I told him where he was, and that he had just pulled the person a few cars in front of me over. Of course, I was bragging because I got away with it and the other person did not. However, he said something to me that stuck with me and I will never forget what he said. He said very plainly, “You speed because you don’t see the results of it every day.” I kind of blew it off with that whatever attitude, but then I began to think. Why do I have to see the results of speeding to make me drive the speed limit? I know what kind of things can happen, and I don’t have to see it to believe it. Then, I began to think about God’s word and what the Bible has to say about so many different things that are relevant to my life. I began to think about all the things I have learned from the Bible. Doubting Thomas got his nickname because he was the doubter and he had to see it to believe it.

JOHN 20:26-29

26 Eight days later, the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.

27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”

28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

NLT

The emphasis throughout the Gospel of John is on believing. There are nearly 100 references in this Gospel to believing in Jesus Christ. The Bible says that “faith comes from hearing the word of God,” not from seeing with your eyes. We do not only believe what we see, but, we believe what we cannot see. We have faith in our God. The Bible also says that “without faith, it is impossible to please God.” We must have faith to please God, yes, but we must believe. If we have to see in order to believe, then we are looking for a sign that requires no faith at all, on our part, only sight. If we are looking for something we need to see in order to believe, then what will happen when we see something that is the opposite of what we want or what we are praying for? We not only believe and have faith in things that we cannot see, but we also need to have faith when things actually look bad and when we are praying for one thing, but the exact opposite is happening. We need to have faith in God’s word and trust Him. Do not quit, do not give up, and never give in. Keep Praying!

Tony Guadagnino is the pastor at Christian Love Fellowship Church.

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