Thought for October 29

History:

• 1618: Walter Raleigh beheaded
• 1787: Mozart's "Don Giovanni" premiers
• 1929: Black Tuesday--stock market crashes
• 1945: First ballpoint pen goes on sale
• 1956: Maria Callas makes her Metropolitan Opera debut
• 1956: First Huntley-Brinkley Report
• 1966: Betty Friedan founds National Organization of women
• 1998: John Glenn is oldest person in space aboard Space Shuttle Discovery
• 2012: Hurricane Sandy makes landfall in New Jersey killing 110
• 2015: China ends one-child policy
• 2019: 1.5 million without power in California to avoid sparking wildfires---all electric?
• Born: Joseph Goebbels [Nazi], Bill Mauldin [WWII cartoonist], Carl Djerassi [father of the contraceptive pill], Bob Ross [painter], Richard Dreyfuss, Kate Jackson, Winona Ryder, Travis Henry [Vol], 
• Died: Walter Raleigh, Nathan Bedford Forrest, George McClellan, Joseph Pulitzer, Louis B Mayer [MGM], Woody Herman, 

Thought: 

The last church to receive a letter from Christ is Laodicea. We are all familiar with this letter. 

• You are lukewarm. Other churches had lost their first love. Other churches had fallen away from the gospel and compromised with the world. Here, the church is just lukewarm. My former law partner and I used to have a saying when we encountered a challenging issue--we feel very strongly both ways. Sounds like Larry and the church--don't be hot enough to be rejected by the world, don't be cold enough to not be accepted at church--just get along. 
• You think you are rich, insightful, well dressed and need nothing. We want our children to be self-sufficient. Take care of themselves. Don't rely on anyone. All those are good ideas if we don't miss the fact that we are insufficient, we cannot take care of ourselves, we have to rely on someone. It is selecting the one to rely on that makes all the difference. 
• You are wretched, blind, pitiful, poor and naked. Here is the reality check. We ask each other, "how are you doin?" And we always say, "fine, good, blessed." We don't want others to know how bad we are hurting--spiritually, emotionally, physically. I guess most of us have read the story of the emperor who had no clothes. Don't forget that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of Lights. God sees us as we are, not as we claim to be. Man looks at the outward appearance. Jesus looks at the heart. 

Now the good news--Jesus is ready to provide everything we need [3:18]--clothe us in the righteousness of Christ, feed us on Bread of Life and Living Water, shower us with all the blessings of His riches. And look at what He says--When he disciplines us, it is out of love for us. When He pricks out conscientious, it is mercy and grace. So, He disciplines and reminds us of our actual condition and then when we repent, He restores and provides. What an amazing Savior!

Blessings

Larry