Thought for March 9

 History:

• 320: 40 Roman soldiers refuse to renounce Christ and offer sacrifices to the Roman Emperor. They are threatened with torture, prison and death. they respond, "Nothing you can offer us can replace what we would lose in the next world--we've learned to deny our bodies where the welfare of our souls is at stake." They are sentenced to die on the ice. they strip off their clothes and say, " What is death to us but an entrance into eternal life." Sitting naked on the ice, one of the 40 crawls away lured by a warm bath. When he climbed into the bath, his system failed and he died. A guard sees a vision of angels and crowns over the dying men, strips off his clothes and joins them. A reminder that when others see our devotion to God, they are drawn to God. 
• 1509: Luther receives Bachelor of Bible degree.
• 1562: Kissing in public banned in Naples--punishable by death
• 1776: Adam Smith publishes "The Wealth of Nations"
• 1862: Monitor and Merrimack battle
• 1864: Grant named commander of the Union Army
• 1916: Pancho Villa invades the US killing 18
• 1945: 333 B-29's attack Tokyo with 120,000 fire bombs
• 1959: Barbie debuts at Toy Fair in NY
• 1964: First Ford Mustang produced
• 1974: Last Japanese soldier surrenders 29 years after the war ends
• 1989: Eastern Airlines files bankruptcy
• Born: Amerigo Vespucci, Leland Sanford, Will Geer [The Waltons], Mickey Spillane, Lloyd Price, Yuri Gagarin, Mickey Gilley, Raul Julia, Bobby Fischer, Andy North, Mike Leach, 
• Died: Johann Pachelbel, Arnold, Toynbee [historian], Civilla Durfee ["God Will Take Care of You" and "His Eye is on the Sparrow"], Bobby Locke, Menachem Begin, Lawrence Spivak ["Meet the Press"], George Burns, Glenn Davis, Bill Wade

Thought:

I love Matthew 7-24-27, perhaps because of the little song we would sing in BTU on Sunday night with the accompanying motions--the wise man built his house upon the rock and the house on the rock stood firm . . . the foolish man built his house upon the sand and the house on the sand fell flat. Today I am thinking about the way Jesus chose to end the Sermon on the Mount. Pastors always look for a good way to end a sermon, speakers want to end the speech with just the right words. Here Jesus ends the sermon with an instruction--everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them may be compared to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. What stands out to you from these verses:

• Everyone is building a house. Each of us is building a house we call life. For some of us, our days of building may be growing short; for others, there may be many days of building left. But every day we are building, serving, growing.
• Everyone can choose a foundation. Jesus offers us a foundation to build upon, but we can choose where to build. We can select to anchor our house on our career--but careers fail and careers end. We can choose to build on wealth, but earthly wealth goes away and rises and falls in value. We can choose a foundation built on pleasure--hobbies, passions, etc. We can build all our life on our earthly family--not bad, but relationships fail. Or we can build on Christ, His truth, His ways, His guidance. 
• During sunny weather, all the houses seem to do well. When things are going well, none of the houses seem to fail--everyone seems to be getting along fine. 
• Everyone will experience the rains and floods of life. But life is not all sunshine--there are storms, floods, earthquakes--lives are shaken by loss--lost wealth, lost relationships, lost fortunes, lost abilities, lost jobs, lost health .
• The choice of foundation determines the eventual fate of the house. The house on the rock comes through the storm, the house on the sand falls flat. 

Reading and singing this again makes me examine my life. Many of us have a service that comes regularly to check our HVAC, plumbing, electrical system, grass and shrubs and trees. Do we do checkups on our foundations? Do I examine where my relationship with the rock stands. Do I look for things I have allowed to get between me and rock? Today, I'm asking God what David asked--search me Lord and let me know if there is any unclean way in me. How is connection to the rock? Blessings

Larry