A Note from Tom: October 20th, 2010
Hey, everyone!
Hope this Thursday is starting out praise-filled and thankfulness-filled (“thankfulllness-filled” may not actually be an English word…but it outta be!)…Before we get to the news, at least we have an awesome weather forecast for today! “…Plenty of sunshine returns with comfortable temperatures in the lower 70s. Overnight lows will be colder near 40 degrees each night!...The weather this weekend calls for very mild temperatures in the middle to upper 70s…”
Mid to upper 70’s for the weekend! Perfect! Especially since it’s predicting the weather and not the score of the Alabama game!
And now (finally!), we got some good economic news this morning!
“What!? I didn’t see any!!”
Oh, I know! I didn’t find it on CNN… The news is that economic growth is so sluggish that it’s like a…well, a giant slug! Unemployed are almost one in ten... The economic rebound is not bouncing as high as hoped. The future might not be so smooth for the bank we go to. But I’m not talking about something you’ll read in the Wall Street Journal, the News Sentinel, or on CNN.com. I saw this news flash just this morning in the Letter to the Hebrews. Check this out…
Breaking news…
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. "So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Heb 12.5-6)
And then this…
“God is my shepherd! I don’t need a thing!” (Psalm 23)
“Well, what if you’re having trouble staying afloat, economically?”
Here’s this news report from Isaiah…
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you…”
“But what if inflation heats up?”
“…When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” (Isaiah 43)
“But what about the consumer index and what it indicates about the health of our economy?”
Don’t know ‘bout all that, but we can know this f’r sure…(take a minute, along with a deep breath, and read these words to yourself…aloud if you can)
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them…
Here’s how the Message puts those words…
“Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds…walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
“"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” (Matthew 6)
Now THAT’S what I call news! Good news!! It’s what the Message calls, “absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you!” ( 2 Pet. 1.4)
There’s no way we could ever thank God enough for promises like those in times like these!
And here’s one more…
Y’know how they say, “Offer good while supplies last”? His supply will never run dry! Check this out!
“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.!” (Phil 4.19)
I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout consumer price indexes, but my prediction is that if you invest (some time with Jesus) in these promises, your believers peace index should increase 187 points by noon today…or more!
That’s the weather and your financial report.