Life Lesson 3

                  Although God is perfect, we are not intended to be perfect at all. We are part of a learning curve with more experienced believers knowing more, having experienced more and are more aware of their spiritual gifts. At least that’s the way it’s supposed to be. I try to live my life as Christ would have me but unfortunately I fail more times than I succeed or at least it seems that way.  Because of this I ascribe to the theory of the blind squirrel, which goes like this: even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while. I see myself as the blind squirrel. Fortunately God loves blind squirrels too. 

            I’m very hard on myself. I demand perfection when I know in my heart perfection from an imperfect person is impossible. There was only one perfect individual in the entire history of mankind and that was and is Jesus Christ. I think I’m a lot more selfish than I should be, so even if there were such a thing as a perfect man besides Jesus I would not be that person. I am famous for overthinking things. Thinking too much tends to allow procrastination to set in. My uncertainty many times causes me not proceed at all, instead of proceeding with caution. God doesn’t require perfection from us. He knows that we are from dust* and to dust we shall return at the end of our life. He gives us tools and guidance, which we often times don’t recognize as coming from him. We need to realize that everything the Lord does for us is for our benefit and ultimate good.

            I revealed this side of myself believing that there are others somewhere in the world that are like me. Take heart brethren, God’s unconditional love embraces us all with the warm support we need to go thru this life with more successes than we will ever realize. Not perfection, but success. Success in God’s eyes is far different than success in this world. As we place one foot in front of the other and proceed forward we will gain confidence and slowly grow into exactly what God has intended us to be all along. We are all different, not one of us is exactly the same, but we are all expected to try.  The person I will become isn’t like anyone else in creation. In that respect we are all unique - one of a kind. Don’t beat yourself up, see yourself as God sees you and allow him to untap the immense potential that exists in you. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing! 

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

* Psalm 103:13,14 - “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.”

Life Lesson 2

            Here’s a life lesson for you. It is my contention that Christians are partially responsible for some people to turn away from God. Here’s a real life example that just took place at my job the other day. 

            Guy #1, who does not know the Lord, was told by a “religious” person, we’ll call him guy #2, that guy #1 shouldn’t be cursing, especially on that day, because it was Good Friday. Then guy #2 proceeded to drop an F bomb himself less than 5 minutes later. That would make guy #2 a hypocrite and that’s exactly how guy #1 saw it. 

            Point #1 – Chances are guy #1 may know very little to nothing about that holiday season. Point #2 – His cussing is not going to send him to hell, his rejection of Christ will. Point #3 – Guy #1 doesn’t know any better. Point #4 - Guy #2 DOES know better. Point #5 – Guy #2 was judging Guy #1 for doing something that he does as well.

             There are too many people like Guy #2 who pass judgment with their words of indictment, and they need to stop that. Once a person receives Christ the Holy Spirit will deal with the profanity issue. Sometimes we clean up our language only to have it reemerge sometime down the road. Let me repeat was I said in Point #3 above … people who don’t have a relationship with God don’t think anything of cussing and that is understandable. It doesn’t make it all right, but it is not our place to instruct him regarding what may be perceived as our regimented list of Do’s & Don’ts. Some of us need to get off our high horse before we make a fool of ourselves in front of others. We must humble ourselves. We are better than no one. We aren’t to compare ourselves to others, but rather to God. This will put us in the place where we belong, beneath the Lord and equal with everyone else. Salvation doesn’t elevate you in status; it forgives you of your sins. That makes you different in that one respect; otherwise, we are really no different than those who are unsaved. No matter how hard you try, even your best efforts will fall short in your quest to be just like Christ. In spite of that, continue striving to be a living example of our Lord, because as the saying goes, actions speak louder than words. Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Life Lesson 1

          Life is like a book with many chapters. The story begins and at an undetermined time the first chapter ends, and the second chapter begins. During one of the chapters you are introduced to the Lord, and he becomes a regular part of the story. There’s a chapter for childhood, one for the teenage years and a special chapter focusing on schooling, one chapter has a fixed climax when graduation occurs. There’s a chapter for college, chapter for courtship, chapter for marriage and a chapter for having babies. Some chapters are light; some are dark depending on the subject. People come into your life either in the midst of a chapter or at the start or conclusion of another. 

            Having said all that, I tend to believe that some people are only in our lives for a brief time. When they move, switch jobs, or churches or simply pass away, a chapter ends and another one begins. We mourn the loss and move on. There is a chapter regarding the re-emergence of a person from your past where you discuss how much each of you had changed. Depending on how the chapters play out will determine whether you end up single, married, divorced, remarried or alone. All the while we try to figure out the meaning of this life and why it seems to be so complicated. For a large part of our life I believe we think way too hard about a lot of things and the more we think the more we become confused. Worry begets stress, which is kin to tension, which can do very bad things to your physical body. We take prescription drugs to regulate our heart, our head, our blood flow, and our nerves. 

            Some books, like their corresponding lives, are long and drawn out, others are short and definitively to the point.  Some make a big splash based on the character of the subject. Some just exist without much to say or do. Those with Christ in their lives will nearly always be more interesting. 

            It is said that our lives will be the only Bible others will ever read. I believe that is true, therefore, we should let our lives be true to what the author intended. Let your life be a worshipful symphony of truth and faith and hope and peace. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing! 

In His Name & for His Glory.

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Taking a Look at our 5 Senses

Hearing

  

            The complex labyrinth that is the human ear enables sound waves to funnel thru a canal to the ear drum which sends vibrations that in turn cause 3 tiny bones (the hammer, anvil & stirrup) to vibrate. Tiny hairs in the inner ear translate these vibrations into electrical impulses which travel to the brain thru sensory nerves. That’s how we hear.

            God gave us the ability to hear. It’s a critical part of our development as humans. Those either born deaf or lose their hearing after birth can certainly learn to communicate and modern medicine and science together have provided such techno advances as cochlear implants. In addition to hearing, the inner workings of your ears enable you to have stable equilibrium. In other words, it keeps you from losing your balance and falling. 

            In Mark 7:31-37, Jesus heals a deaf man who could barely speak. James 1:22 tells us to not just be hearers of the word but doers. Hearing is a gift from our creator God. We listen to various media outlets for instruction and/or entertainment, but what do we do with what we hear. We hear the spoken word on Sunday’s, but have we allowed it to transform our lives? Do we take our ability to hear for granted? What would we do if we suddenly lost that ability? 

            God loves us and wishes us to enjoy all the blessings he has in store for us, but we must be willing to hear his voice and act on what we have heard. If we don’t, we’re no different than those without Christ. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

 

Up next we’ll take a look at series of LIFE LESSONS. I hope they encourage you. I love you all with the love of Christ. rlk

Taking a Look at our 5 Senses

Sight

 

Sight, or perceiving things through your eyes, is a complex process that we will not go into here but suffice it to say that believing that the human body with all its intricacies just happened is much harder for me to believe that the existence of a God who created us in our entirety. People seem to only want to believe that which they can understand, but with God that’s not how it works. Even if man could see Almighty God with their own two eyes in all His glory, they would still find a million and one reasons to not believe. With God, we aren’t asked to understand, just believe, and trust without seeing. That’s faith.  

Scripture not only speaks of those with sight being touched by Christ, but those without sight being touched as well. While on this earth, the Lord came across a blind beggar named Bartimaeus who was crying out for Jesus to have mercy on him. The interesting thing about this is how he referred to Jesus by his Messianic title, “Son of David”. Bartimaeus knew who he was even without seeing him. It was because of his faith that he was healed.    

There of course was doubting Thomas, who said that he had to see Jesus risen, see his scars and touch the holes in his hands and side before he would believe he was still not dead. It wasn’t until 8 days had passed that Thomas got his wish. Jesus appeared among the disciples, though the door was locked and told Thomas to touch his holes with his finger and place his hand on his pierced side. How did Jesus know Thomas felt that way? Who told him? It is one example of God’s being omniscient or being the knower of all things. The poignant statement Jesus then makes is this: “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” (John 20:24-31) Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries                   

Taking a Look at our 5 Senses

Smell

 

According to researchers, we are able to smell over 1 trillion scents. ⁽¹⁾ We smell using what is called the ‘olfactory cleft’, that is located on the roof of our nasal cavity. It has nerve endings in the olfactory cleft that transmits various smells to our brain. The sense of smell is important Biblically speaking because it is involved in how we smell to God. According to scripture we smell as fragrant perfume to our Lord. 

The Temple of God had an altar of incense which was filled with Frankincense. The altar was in the Holy Place, right outside the Holy of Holies or Most Holy Place. The smoke from the incense would rise and flow over the veil into the Most Holy Place and fill that place with the fragrant smell of the Frankincense herb. The priests taught that the smoke carried the prayers of the people up to God.

Ephesians 5:2 says, “Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for the sweet-smelling fragrance.” In place of the incense burned in the Holy Temple of God in the Old Testament, Christ’s sacrifice of himself for our sins was a fragrant scent to God. We are also as a pleasing scent to our God if we walk in righteousness and are blameless before the Lord.

Right living is paramount in a believer’s life. While there may be several ways to look at certain scriptures, the crux of our belief is never open to interpretation; that being the existence of God, the fact that Jesus was God’s Son, the fact that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah who willingly died a grisly death on a wooden cross to pay for the multitude of man’s sins. No deviation from those key elements can be allowed. Forgiveness is freely available. It’s a prepaid gift. Receive it today. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries 

 ⁽¹⁾ The American Rhinologic Society.

Taking a Look at our 5 Senses

Taste

  

One’s sense of taste is usually broken down into the perception of four different tastes: salty, sweet, sour, and bitter. There is also a fifth taste, defined as savory. Taste is sensed in the taste buds. Adults have 2,000 to 4,000 taste buds. Most of them are on the tongue, but they also line the back of the throat, the epiglottis, the nasal cavity, and the esophagus. We have sensory cells that form capsules that have pores that work like funnels with tiny taste hairs. Proteins on the hairs bind chemicals to the cells for tasting. The smell of the food greatly affects how the brain perceives the taste. Smells are sent to the mouth in a process called olfactory referral. This is why someone with a stuffy nose may have trouble tasting food properly.

Psalm 34 is a Davidic psalm that speaks of God as his provider and deliverer. The 8th verse says, “Taste & see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” When we speak of someone who is good, we speak of someone who exhibits the following qualities: upright, of moral excellence, benevolent, kind, worthy of respect, honorable, competent, reliable, true, genuine, or real. Is it any wonder Jesus said in the gospels: "Why do you call me good?" "No one is good--except God alone.” We are frail & broken vessels, especially in comparison to a Holy God. But we are loved without condition in spite of our weaknesses & failings. 

For all those who have tasted of the goodness of the Lord, their life shall never be the same. It may not be a perfect life by their own standards, but it will be a complete life, because our Lord completes us. He is the period at the end of the sentence. Once forgiveness is received it’s all up hill from there. Don’t be like Lot’s wife, who looked longingly back as everything she valued in life burned. The Hebrew defines “looking back” as much more than a glance. For her disobedience she was turned to a pillar of salt & was no more. Don’t be like Lot’s wife. Once you taste of God’s forgiveness, mercy, and kindness, you must surely realize the past holds nothing for you any longer. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries