Well, the first week of 2024 is now history and Marti and I are carrying great expectations for this coming year. It’s going to be a challenge because there is much in my life telling me to ease up. You’re getting older; don’t expect so much from yourself.
But do you know what I think when I hear that?
If Jesus were still alive at my age, He would know that His Father had a reason for keeping Him around that long and He would be doing what God wanted Him to do like he always did. Can you imagine Jesus saying, “Well I guess I’ll just ease back and make myself comfortable until the Father sends for me”? Does that sound like Jesus? Not on your life.
If you are here, you are here for a reason.
On a number of occasions Jesus ties our responsibility in heaven to how we have been responsible here on earth. If we are faithful in the little things here, God will put us in charge of His possessions in eternity. There’s a real connection. I don’t want to get to heaven and find out the job God had for me in eternity was given to someone else because I wasn’t faithful here with what He gave me to do.
What is life for anyway? Is it to find the easiest way through this gauntlet with the least amount of work, or is it to do the Father’s will as Jesus did?
Could it be that these next years could be the best years of our lives? The most joyful? The most productive? I’m already over a handful of years past what I am allotted in scripture. There must be a reason for this. I intend to find that out and be about doing it. How about you?
John Fischer The Catch 
Great message. I have to keep reminding myself that Jesus had a wonderful purpose for each of us no matter the depression I feel at the time and he decides when its time to come to him. Each day I pray and read the Bible and enjoy the great messages from the Catch. I wrote a check to the Catch in late October and it has not cleared yet. Hasn’t come back. I hope it is with the Catch and will clear soon. Take care, God Bless, and have a great day.
On a busy Friday morning, a man played his violin in a busy subway station for 45 minutes. More than a thousand people passed by, but only six stopped to listen. At the end of the session, the musician had earned $32.
Here is what the commuters didn’t know: The violinist was one of the most talented musicians in the world, and the majority of people that day had missed out on an incredible opportunity. Joshua Bell had played one of the most intricate pieces ever written on a violin worth $3.5 million. The average price for a ticket to a concert he gave days earlier was $100.
As part of an experiment about perception and priorities, Bell agreed to play exceptional music in a commonplace environment at a busy hour to see how people would react. The results of the experiment revealed that, sadly, most people miss out on beauty and brilliance right before them when bogged down by rigorous schedules and daily demands.
If people can miss such unmistakable talent right before their very eyes and ears, what other of God’s wonders are most of us missing out on?
Life can be busy and demanding. But we can never get so engrossed that we miss out on seeing the God’s wonders around us and the godliness in our midst. Do we encounter the LORD on the way to work? Can we find God in a baby’s laugh or in another person’s eyes? Can we see God in a common place and at a busy time? We are surrounded by beauty and holiness all the time, but it is up to us to see it.
Open your eyes and ears, John.
Open our minds and awareness, Lord.
Excerpted from:
https://www.ifcj.org/learn/holy-land-moments/daily-devotionals/dont-miss-out-on-gods-wonders
Shalom, Peace…