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CLIMB A TREE!

As Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to suffer His final Passion, He passed through the town of Jericho where there lived a man by the name of Zacchaeus.  Zacchaeus was the chief of the publicans in that area and very rich.  The people in general despised Publicans at the time because they gathered the taxes that were exacted upon them by their Roman oppressors.  Often they were unscrupulous in their methods and weren’t above collecting extra to pad their own purses.   Scripture tells us that Zacchaeus “…sought to see Jesus who He was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.”   It was in his heart to see Jesus.   This was not just a casual curiosity to see a famous figure and be able to boast about it later.   No, this was a deep desire to know “who He was”.     There were some obstacles to seeing Jesus that stood in Zacchaeus’ way.   For one, he was rich.   Riches have a way of robbing a man of those ...
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THE COMMUNICATION OF YOUR FAITH

The letter of Paul the Apostle to Philemon is one of the two shortest books in the New Testament.   At just 25 verses, it ties with Jude as the least lengthy.   What it lacks in length, however, it more than makes up for in content.   The letter reveals the story of Onesimus, a runaway servant who had served Philemon, but had grown unhappy with his servitude and had left his master without having been released by him.   Many of the particulars of the story are unknown to us, such as, exactly why Onesimus left, did he steal any of his master’s goods to help him on his journey when he left, and was he the only servant in Philemon's household?   The things that we do know and can reasonably deduce from the information that we have, however, is enough to give us an inspiring story of repentance, faith, obedience, and restitution.   At the time that Paul wrote this letter, between 60-63 A.D, he was in prison for the first time in Rome.   Paul hoped...
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BECOMING LIKE CHILDREN

My wife and I recently attended a surprise 80th birthday party for my wife's aunt.  There were lots of cousins, great cousins, and even 3rd generation cousins present at the party, some of whom had come a good distance to attend; so, it was great to see everybody and catch up on news of their families.  My wife later commented about how one little baby who was just months old was able to pick out her mother's voice even above 40 or more other voices all talking at the same time.  Her little ears would prick up, and her head would turn toward the direction of her momma's voice.   As my wife described what she observed that day, I had to think of the relationship with our heavenly Father and how similar it is to that little one and her momma.  There are many voices around us always, some of them are good, and some of them are not so good, but in the midst of so many voices our Father's rings out true and distinct from all others. ...
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