Saturday, April 12, 2014

Saturday (4/12/2014)

Update:

I have a full schedule today.  This morning I need to write my Update/Thought, have my devotional time, work on Sunday’s message and get my clothes ready for tonight and Sunday morning (ironing).

This afternoon I will be attending the 90th Birthday Party of a very energetic and active friend.  Later in the afternoon, I will be attending the Altoona Fire Department Annual Banquet.  Unfortunately this year Karen won’t be able to attend with me since tonight is a big tech rehearsal for next week’s Easter drama.  I also need to have something prepared for the Banquet because I’ll probably be asked to pray for the meal and for the safety of the members of the department.

By the time I get home I will be ready for bed.  I ended up sleeping for nine hours--guess I really was tired and ready for bed.

Yesterday (on Friday), I was having trouble with my prosthetic leg.  On Tuesday, we added a pad around the knee.  Unfortunately it ended up being painful on the knee so I called my prosthetist and told what I was experiencing.  It took me a few days to determine that it was the pad causing my knee to ache since I had walked in the grass which was quite a strain on the knee as well.  The prosthetist said I could remove it or I could come in and she would take it out.  It was glued in very securely, but Jon, Paul S. and I were able to get it out well enough so I didn’t have to make a special trip into Eau Claire.  That made my leg much more comfortable for the rest of the day.

Friday afternoon, I drove my truck and 16-foot trailer into Eau Claire so that all the scenery pieces could be loaded in to the Theatre.  My first stop was the University Drama department.  I had to back the trailer down a narrow driveway off of Water Street at 5:30 p.m. on Friday afternoon.  It is a busy four-lane thoroughfare in Eau Claire.  It was the first time that I’ve driven with the trailer since last summer.  I was apprehensive since I hadn’t been getting any practice.  I was a bit rusty but found a break in the traffic long enough so that I got the job done with only one car having to stop and wait a moment for me.  The rest of the night went much easier.

Thought fort the Day:

Are you looking for heaven on earth?  It is fairly clear that we will never achieve the lofty goal of creating heaven on earth.  We will never eradicate poverty, hatred, illness and suffering through our concerted efforts. As long as there are people, there will always be drug abuse, crime, and cruelty.

Nature itself has its moments of pristine beauty—a gorgeous sunset, a tranquil lake at sunrise, and a beautiful mountain vista.  But nature can also be cruel and harsh—tornado, typhoons, earthquake, blizzards, and scorching drought.

While most of us realize that we will never create heaven on earth—it really isn’t an unachievable dream—it is just that we are not the ones who will do it.  “In the end Christ will finally and completely restore His entire creation to what God originally intended it” [Randy Alcorn, Seeing the Unseen].

2 Peter 3:10-13    “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”

Romans 8:21   “…that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

God will restore things back to the way they should be and the way He intended.  God will provide the perfect environment for us to live in.  The earth will be reborn as a place of perfect beauty and tranquility.  It will be reset back to the Garden of Eden (without the serpent).  We won’t struggle to obtain food, work won’t be toilsome, and God will dwell in our midst. 


Right now, the world in which we live in is not perfect.  Life can be cruel and harsh.  It’s a mixture of pain and pleasure, sorrow and joy.  As much as I enjoy my current life here on earth; it is incomparable to the joy I will have living on the new earth refashioned by God.  When things go painfully wrong here and now; I just keep thinking about the way it will be someday.  Hope for the future is more than just a day dream; God has promised it for those who believe. 

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