Conference lgp30::christian-perspective

    Proverbs.  Chapter 11, Verse 29:

    		"He that troubleth his own house shall inherit
    		the wind:  and the fool shall be servant to 
    		the wise of heart"

    Why?  Very difficult to put into words .. however ... we are
    all (irrespective of race, creed, color, national origin, sexual
    orientation, height, weight, faith, occupation, financial status,
    ... or a myriad of other components)
    
    				one
    
    - called the brotherhood of man - and if we continue to trouble our
    own house the way we're going now ... you can bet that we'll inherit
    the wind.

    I feel that if we could quit troubling our own house ... everything else
    will fall into place.

    That may not make sense and I don't know the Biblical meaning of that
    passage, but, that's the way I read and interpret it.

    Bubba

    Isaiah 40:31 

    "But they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength; they shall 
    mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they 
    shall walk, and not faint."

    I found this verse first when I was on a bicycle trip. We were riding
    100 miles a day (for 31 days). We often sang and talked in churches at
    night. You can probably understand how a verse about renewing strength
    could bring encouragement on such a trip. I was 16 and not much of an
    athlete.

    Since then the verse has come to a fuller meaning to me. As I grow
    older I have become more aware of the first phrase "they that wait
    upon the Lord". Service is important to me. It always has been. It was
    how I was raised. This verse helps me focus of serving the Lord. I see
    that service as my duty in exchange for God's saving grace. At times
    when I'm down this verse serves to remind me that God will help me
    here on earth and that a better life still remains for me in heaven.

    		Alfred

	For while all things were in quiet silence,
	and that night was in the midst of her swift
	course,

	Thine Almighty word leaped down from heaven
	out of thy royal throne.

				--Wisdom 18:14-15a (KJV)

There is a season for everything and a time for purpose under heaven.

A time to be born, a time to die;
a time to plant, a time to reap;
a time to kill, a time to heal;
a time to laugh, a time to weep.

A time to build up, a time to break down;
a time to dance, a time to mourn;
a time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together.

A time to love, a time to hate;
a time of war, a time of peace;
a time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing.

A time to gain, a time to lose;
a time to tear, a time to sew;
a time to love, a time to hate.

			Ecclesiates 3:1-8

My daughter, Kendra, and Don's son, Peter, recited this verse 
alternately at our wedding and then Peter and my neice, Julie, led the 
congregation in singing the Peter Seger version of the words set to 
music.  To me, it represents the cyclical nature of life.  Unless one 
experiences the ups and downs, joys and sorrows, etc., then one hasn't 
participated in the fullness of being human.  Seeing both sides allows 
me to be compassionate and empathetic to others and thus be of service 
to God.

Um, or else I just like the Byrds!  ;')

Ro

Boy, this is a toughie.  My favorite verse changes with what I am going 
through.  Since Alfred already picked one of my very favorite, I'll use
my claim verse that I recently chose for what I am currently working through.
God seems to be leading me lately away from this place.  I thought it was
just to another job, but this week the thought of missions has been 
planted in my head.  I'm not sure from where.  I pray that I will know 
God's will and have the grace to follow if called.  I have requested that
my friends, my prayer partners, pray for God's will in my life.  I only
have my NIV with me.   I like the NASB slightly better, but they say the
same thing.

Colossians 1:9-12

For this reason, since the day we heard about you we have not stopped praying 
for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all 
spiritual wisdom and understanding.  And we pray this in order that you may 
live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit 
in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with 
all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance 
and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you 
to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
----------

Jill
    

    "Verily I say unto you..."  one version of Matthew 25
    
    For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat:  I was thirsty, and ye 
    gave me drink:  I was a stranger, and ye took me in:  Naked, and ye 
    clothed me:  I was sick, and ye visited me:  I was in prison, and ye 
    came unto me.  
    
    Then shall the righteous answer him saying, Lord, when saw we thee an 
    hungred, and fed thee?  or thirsty, and gave thee drink?  When saw we 
    thee a stranger, and took thee in?  or naked, and clothed thee?  Or 
    when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
    
    And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, 
    inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my 
    brethren, ye have done it unto me.
    
    Karen

...

You lift me up and mount me on the wind,
Your toss me about with a tempest.

I know that you will return me to Death,
To the meetinghouse of all the living.

One does not turn his hand against the needy,
When in his distress he cries for help.

Did I not weep for the hapless,
My soul grieve for the poor?

Yet when I expected good, came evil;
I hoped for light, but darkness came.

My bowels boil unceasing;
Days of affliction confront me.

In gloom I go, with no sun;
I stand in the crowd and cry for help.

I have become the jackal's brother,
The ostrich's companion.

My skin blackens and peels,
My bones are scorched with heat.

My harp is turned to mourning,
My flute to the sound of weepers.

---Book of Job, Chapter 30

Luke 18.9-14

	Jesus also told this parable to people who were sure of their own
goodness and despised everybody else.  "Once there were two men who went up
to the Temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, the other a tax collector.  The
Pharisee stood apart by himself and prayed, 'I thank you, God, that I am not
greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like everybody else.  I thank you that I
am not like that tax collector over there.  I fast two days a week, I give you
one tenth of all my income.'  But the tax collector stood at a distance and
would not even raise his face to heaven, but beat on his breast and said,
'God, have pity on me, a sinner!'  I tell you," said Jesus, "the tax collector,
not the Pharisee, was in the right with God when he went home.  For everyone
who makes himself great will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself
will be made great."

91:1  He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
91:2  I will say of the LORD, [He is] my refuge and my
fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
91:3  Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the
fowler, [and] from the noisome pestilence.
91:4  He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his
wings shalt thou trust: his truth [shall be thy] shield and buckler.

91:5  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; [nor]
for the arrow [that] flieth by day;
91:6  [Nor] for the pestilence [that] walketh in darkness;
[nor] for the destruction [that] wasteth at noonday.
91:7  A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at
thy right hand; [but] it shall not come nigh thee.
91:8  Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the
reward of the wicked.
91:9  Because thou hast made the LORD, [which is] my r
efuge, [even] the most High, thy habitation;

91:10  There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any
plague come nigh thy dwelling.
91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep
thee in all thy ways.
91:12  They shall bear thee up in [their] hands, lest thou
dash thy foot against a stone.
91:13  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young
lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
91:14  Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I
deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

91:15  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I [will
be] with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
91:16  With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my
salvation.