And all were astonished...

"And all were astonished by the majesty of God."
I was reading this just now and it occurred to me that all were astonished. How long has it been since You were astonished? I don't mean just surprised that God remembered you but actually, really astonished in what God has/had done for you in your life? In the gospel of Jesus Christ, according to Saint Luke in Chapter 9 and verse 43b, Doctor Luke points out that all were astonished. According to Webster the definition of astonish is:"to strike with sudden and usually great wonder or surprise."

I pose to you that in this day and age with the glitz and glamor of western culture we have little capacity to be astonished. We see different corners of the globe from the safety and security of our living rooms, viewing from our computer screen through the miracle of the internet. I say miracle because it has enabled you and I to make contact and to share thoughts and ideas and concerns. Your circle of community and mine just grew by a few million at least who may at some time in space view this blog and/or the comments you may leave. This conversation will for just a short sliver of time in God's continuum live for as long as the world wide web does. Do you find that idea astonishing? I do. I may not show my astonishment on the outside but I am astonished that what I write will live on in cyberspace because whatever is posted to the Internet never goes away. 

I leave you with this thought and that is, if we do not find ways to allow ourselves to be astonished, to be surprised, to be elated in our relationship with God then what sort of response do you believe you will express when you meet God face to face?  On one hand I expect there will be some familiarity because of the relationship I have with Him and along with that I expect to feel great levels of awe and wonder. What would help me to overcome the shock and awe will be the warmth from His eyes into mine, the smile He gives to me, the kind of smile that says,"what..you thought it would be Miami Beach?" As a gift, I would like to present Him with something that I can do for Him, offer Him my astonishment. I realize I do not have to do anything for God and I am not speaking of a payback or offering to enter Heaven. What I mean is as one friend offers another friend a precious gift, when the receiver has a face of surprise, a face of unexpected elation, the look of elation and appreciation for the giver becomes all the thank you they need. Does God need my thank you? I do not believe God needs anything, if He did then He would not be God, He would be an incomplete being the same as you and I. What I do believe is that God is love and love is God (First John) and love excites and grows with more and more love. Love unrequited is love still but do you not see and believe that love deserves love in return? I believe God deserves my love in return because of the love He has shown and constantly shows to me in my life. I cannot wow God but do I need to? I believe as my friend, Lord and Master that God would and could be surprised by the look on my face of astonishment because God does not disappoint and God does not leave any detail unattended. God will accept my face of astonishment and elation and be joy filled at my jubilation of entering into the Kingdom and for my gift to Him, He will bless me with a smile that only a parent can give to their child. I believe it is only kind and loving to prepare myself to give a look of astonishment when I see Him in all His splendor and majesty and to prepare myself I am going to practice not being so cynical, not so Not-impressed with nature and the Holy Spirit. I am going to allow myself to become more sensitive to the movements of God in my life. They are subtle and quiet and they are swirling around like a wisp of wind and it takes getting pushed over with a feather, not a 2X4 to receive what God is sharing with you or me today. If someone offers you an ice cream cone today, take it and show your enjoyment when you eat it. If someone gives a "hello," receive it and share with them a look directly into their eyes and give a smile and say, "thank you, and hello to you too!" You never know who you may be encountering, sometimes it will be angels.

Making some dust

Some may notice the Feedburner icon on the right side of the page. I am in the midst of learning how to publish a podcast and then let you know about it. I am putting the cart before the horse in certain respects, I am setting up the framework and then I will post a podcast episode. The technical side of it is all new to me so I am going slow. Please bear with me on the podcasting.

On another side I was looking at Matthew 16: 1-20 where Jesus is telling about the vinyard owner who goes and hires workers in the morning, afternoon and just before the end of the workday. At the end of the day the owner tells his foreman to pay out the wages to all. All were to receive the same wage and that the last to be hired would be the first to get paid. When the workers from the morning saw this they balked and felt it unfair. Jesus gives many good responses about the attitude of the workers and their geleousy toward the others who only worked for an hour and yet received a full day's wage.

A thought ocured to me is that the workers hired in the morning were given the opportunity to work in the vineyard all day. All day they were in the presence of the Master and yet they grumbled at what they saw and took little note of where they were. Those of us who are called into the Kingdom of Heaven by our Master and Lord, by the One who bled and died for all of us on the cross at Calvary are blessed simply to be in His presence. If someone lives a life of sin and on their dying breath they accept the Lord and go to be in His presence should we grumble because this person who lived a life of sin and gets a pass to go and be with God and Jesus for eternity? We who are already called and who already dine at the Lord's supper when we attend communion, we are already in His presence and we work in His vineyard each day. Today is another opportunity to work in His vineyard and the harvest is plenty, the branches hang low with sweet plump juicy fruit and we are provided the best of baskets to put it into along with gloves and a hat. Breaks are whenever we need one and there is cool water for the taking. Lunch will be at the Lord's table and all are invited.  "The harvest is plenty, laborers are few, come with me into the fields. Your arms will grow weary, your shoes will wear thin, come with me into the fields." An old song from church.

Today go and be blessed for you work not for flesh and blood but for the Lord and He gives you special work.

explanation on Fractional Reserve Banking made simple

Thank you for taking a look at this post. I am adding a link to a video created by Pastor Dowell of Straightway.
The video is simple and to the point with great explanation and clear understanding. You may ask if it is necessary to understand fractional reserve banking and should we know it? Yes! Oh Yes! This country and its financial institutions have run on fractional reserve banking since the days of President Andrew Jackson who at the time was very much against such systems or a central bank. Please take time out to listen and view what is said, the information will help you to see how our country is going broke and why. How to convert your useless paper debt note into real usable money such as silver or gold. How the bible even discusses silver and gold and how it can be so easily manipulated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ibJcGSW2hw&feature=channel_video_title