Never underestimate the Power of God and His unique sense of humor.

THE PASTOR'S CAT ```````````````````````````````````````````````` This particular story just made me laugh. Every time I think about it, the vision of that poor cat just amuses me no end. Hope the story leaves a bright spot in your day.

Whoever said the Creator doesn't have a sense of humor?

Dwight Nelson recently told a true story about the pastor of his church. He had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard and then was afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, etc. The kitty would not come down. The tree was not sturdy enough to climb, so the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to his car and pulled it until the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten. That's what he did, all the while checking his progress in the car. He then figured if he went just a little bit further, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten. But as he moved the car a little further forward, the rope broke. The tree went "boing!" and the kitten instantly sailed through the air - out of sight. The pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood asking people if they'd seen a little kitten. No. Nobody had seen a stray kitten. So he prayed, "Lord, I just commit this kitten to your keeping," and went on about his business. A few days later he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see cat food. This woman was a cat hater and everyone knew it, so he asked her, "Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?" She replied, "You won't believe this," and then told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat, but she kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had begged again, so the Mom finally told her little girl, "Well, if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it." She told the pastor, "I watched my child go out in the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you won't believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the blue sky, with its paws outspread, and landed right in front of her."

Judging Others

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity.

Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

The Blessing And The Breaking

"And it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him" (Luke 24:30-31).

There is a simple truth demonstrated in this post-resurrection encounter with Christ. Can you see it?

I cannot think of a single Christian that does not desire the blessing of the Lord. We earnestly seek and desire God's blessings on our life. We want the Lord to bless our spiritual life, our home life, our children, our finances, our churches and our ministries. Is there anything wrong with that? Of course not. But the fact remains that we do not always get what we ask for.

What does it mean to be blessed? The common assumption, I believe, is that when God has blessed a person then they will enjoy physical health, financial prosperity, and a general sense of happiness and well-being.

I want us to see that when Jesus blesses something He breaks it. The blessing results in breaking. The prayer for "more" results in "less". The request for "increase" results in "decrease". The prayer for blessing results in brokenness.

Do you want to be a blessing to other people, or a burden? Most Christians would say they want to be blessing to others. So God blesses them and then breaks them.

What is going on here? Simply put, the blessing of the Lord is in being reduced to Christ. Who is blessed? Not the one who is rich in spirit, but the one who is poor in spirit. The poor in spirit possess the Kingdom. Those who are broken are blessed, and those who are blessed are broken.

The heart-cry of a disciple of "more of Jesus". How do we get "more" of Jesus? By getting less of us. With less of me there is more of Him. As I am decreased, He is increased. This is what it means to be blessed.

A brother in the Lord related the following experience to me. As he was watching television he says he came across a woman who was yelling, "Increase! Increase! God wants to increase you and all you have!" This brother says he staggered out of his chair laughing, and said, "Decrease! Decrease! Keep decreasing me Lord, till all there is left is YOU!" Friends, when we understand the blessing and the breaking then we will find ourselves responding the same way. What I love about this is the brother LAUGHED as he rejected the "increase" and embraced the decrease. This is what it means to take up the Cross.

We cry out for "increase" but God has already (past tense) blessed us with "every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). We have the blessing already. What we are lacking is the breaking. We want the blessing without the breaking. But it is not that we need more of the Lord, because we already have all of Him; we just need less of everything else.

After Jesus blessed the bread, and broke it, and gave it to them, their eyes were opened and they knew Him. Until you have the blessing and the breaking your eyes will remain closed. Blessings alone do not open our eyes. Indeed, blessings by themselves tend to close our eyes. We do not come to know Him in the blessing, but in the breaking. Then what we already have in Him will be revealed. Our eyes will be opened and we will see that He has been standing there the whole time.

Do you want to know Him? Do you want to see Him for Who He is? Do you want to go deeper? Do you want to have your eyes opened? Embrace the blessing AND the breaking; receive them both. If you are a bruised reed or a broken cistern, take heart, because you are making progress.

Choosing The Truth

There is always a moment of decision in which we can choose to remain where we are or we can go deeper. We cannot understand all the implications of the decision, but we know it will cost us something. "There is no turning back." We will be held accountable for the Truth we have. To whom much is given, much is required. Some are unwilling to pay the price. But the ones who do are given no guarantees except one: they will know the Truth.

Most people will say, "My mind is made up, so don't confuse me with the Truth." To choose the Truth is to want the Truth at all costs, even if it means sacrificing everything I have believed up until now, challenging all my paradigms, questioning all my teachers, examining everything I have ever experienced.

Of course our first decision about Truth is based upon Who Jesus is. With that question settled many Christians are content, but Truth is living. Truth will continue to reveal Himself to us and around us for as long as we will allow it. What, after all, is Wisdom? Wisdom is the ability to see things from heaven's, and thus God's, perspective. Daily we must choose between ignorant bliss or seeing things as God sees them. It is a daily choice. You cannot be told, you have to see it for yourself.

Seeking For Truth

Christ has come to seek and to save the Lost. He tells His disciples that they have not chosen Him, but He has chosen them. The ones who seek Him discover that they are sought out by Him. The paradox of the situation is that the Lord will only reveal Himself to those who seek Him, but when they begin to seek Him, He searches for them in order to make Himself known.

There are those who are hungry for Truth, and then there are those who do something to satisfy their hunger. They know something is not right, something is lacking, and they set out to find answers to their questions. Unfortunately for some, the quest for Truth becomes more important than Truth itself. People who do not pass through this stage, but remain too long here, are those who are "ever learning, but never coming to the full-knowledge (epignosis) of Truth." They can quote the sayings of Jesus, Mohammed, or Buddha, but they can never get beyond a mental apprehension of what they say they believe. Either they have never been forced to make a decision for Truth, or they have decided the cost is too great, and they are content to settle back into meaningless philosophical exercises.

Hungry For Truth

Theologians describe it as a God-shaped vacuum in our heart. However you choose to describe it, there is a capacity for God within every man and woman. Some seek to fill the void with other things, but man is never truly satisfied until he finds communion with His Creator. Jesus says, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled." The most amoral people in the world are the ones who have no hunger for Truth. They are the ones who love Darkness more than Light.

It is better to give food to a hungry man than to force-feed people who are not hungry. This is one of the failures of evangelicalism. People have not been taught to tell the difference between a hungry person and a person who is full, so they indiscriminately cast their pearls before swine. Jesus did not reveal Himself to everyone, nor did He minister to everyone He encountered. He qualified them on the basis of their spiritual appetite.

Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? What does it all mean? It is not so much our seeking the Truth as the Truth drawing us to Himself. That drawing us to Himself is interpreted by our soul as spiritual hunger. Without this we cannot come to Truth.