Miss a Minute Message in May? Get caught up below:
May 2:
A.W. Tozer wrote, “Faith is seeing the invisible but not the nonexistent.”
For more than two decades, science has benefited from the Hubble Space Telescope’s new insights. Prior to its deployment, it was assumed the universe’s expansion was slowing. After all, the force of gravity in the universe would pull things together. The assumption was wrong – it is expanding at an ever-increasing rate. Why? Well, scientists now propose that “dark energy” composes 68% of the universe and “dark matter” another 27% - that’s a total of 95%. In other words, we have a grasp on only 5% of the cosmos. Here’s the rub; we can’t see or even measure dark energy or dark matter, but science believes it exists because of its effect on what can be seen.
That’s faith. I cannot see God, but I can measure the impact of his love, grace and mercy on what can be seen. Look around you at the majesty of springtime; talk to someone who’s endured tough times but has not given up; hear the joy in one who’s life has been transformed by the Lord. Invisible yes, but we can see him at work everywhere.
May 9:
Perhaps you’ve heard, “Do it right or don’t do it at all.” It’s an admonition used to remind us that any task, no matter how great or small, deserves our best effort.
I have always enjoyed aviation history. While World War I certainly helped to enhance the development of the airplane, aviation was still very much in its infant stages during that first global conflict. Unlike the aircraft of today, many of those early rotary engine planes flown by the heroes of the skies had no throttles. When the engine was running it was running at full speed, fully committed to the task. Landing was accomplished with power off.
Winston Churchill wrote, “No one is compelled to serve great causes unless he feels fit for it, but nothing is more certain than you cannot take the lead in great causes as a half-timer.” That describes commitment. Of his work, the apostle Paul wrote, “To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” That’s commitment. Don’t live life at half-throttle or as a half-timer. Do it right or don’t do it at all!
May 16
There is no true greatness where truth is absent.
Most say truth is important, but few really seek to find it. Surprisingly, what we often believe to be true, isn’t. For instance, we’ve heard that humans only use 10% of our brains, but that isn’t true. We may act like we’re only using 10% but in reality, we use considerably more. We’ve heard an ostrich buries its head in the sand when afraid but that’s not true, either. It would suffocate with a buried head. It does, however, lay its neck and head flat on the ground to help camouflage it. With 12,000 bodies of water, Minnesota surely has more lakes than any other state? Wrong again. Alaska takes that honor with 3 million.
Not knowing the truth about a frightened ostrich or which state can claim the most lakes won’t change your life but knowing some truths will. Find your true direction, search for the right answers, discover the facts about life now and forever. Jesus claimed to be the way, the truth and the life. I’d start there with your search. That truth will set you free.
May 23
Time is really the only thing that belongs to all of us; even if you have nothing else, you have time.
Our perception of time is often distorted. Let me share a few examples. An editorial in the New York Times predicted that it would require up to 10 million years to develop a flyable airplane. That editorial was published in October of 1903, a mere ten weeks before the Wright Brothers made history at Kitty Hawk. Which came first Oxford University or the Aztec Empire of central Mexico? People were learning at Oxford over 200 years before the Aztecs built their capital city. Here’s another mental time warp. William Henry Harrison was the first US president to die in office. That made vice-president John Tyler our nation’s 10th president in April of 1841, twenty years before the first battle of the Civil War. President Tyler has grandsons who are still alive today. Yes, you heard me correctly, grandsons!
Time is a gift from God, a gift to all of us. Use it carefully. Once gone it will not return, but if invested wisely for the Lord the results will be timeless.
May 30