OPEN MY EYES!

 

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

 

OPEN MY EYES!

 

Ps 119:18

18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

 

          Jesus had told His disciples that he was “going away” and Thomas said “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” John 14:5 Then Philip said that it would be enough if they could just “see the Father.” Jesus then responded that if they had seen Him, they had already seen the Father!

 

          Like the proverbial calf looking at a new gate, they didn’t know what they were seeing. Comprehension was withheld from their eyes and minds because Jesus was so cleverly hidden in human flesh.

 

          The travelers on the road to Emmaus walked and talked with the resurrected Jesus but did not know him. “And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.” Luke 24:15-16

 

          The word “holden” is translated from the Greek krateo which means “to seize or retain.” They saw but they were “held, seized, and retained” from comprehending.

 

          Today, ask God to reveal Himself to you in a new and fresh way. What a joy it will be to you to see Him again for the very first time.

 

Dear Lord, remove the scales from my eyes that I might see you more clearly than ever before. AMEN

 

DECORATION DAY

 

Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 2026

 

DECORATION DAY

 

Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 

 

          We called it Decoration Day because Tennessee people, wherever they had roamed, came home to place pretty flowers on the family graves. It was a time for reunion with others who had come home.

 

          Our loved ones were all buried in the small cemetery adjoining the Pine Hill Church, probably Baptist with a Pentecostal flavor. It was there that we gathered to forget trespasses and to remember good things. The church provided “all day singing” and “dinner on the ground.”

 

          Our family had migrated to Ohio, where there was work for daddy. We took highway 27 south through Kentucky. We stopped somewhere in the mountains at a log cabin restaurant. I remember that there was a Koi pond out front which fascinated me and my siblings. They were the biggest goldfish we had ever seen. Inside was a trinket shop with hillbilly stuff. There was a coonskin hat which we did not buy but wanted to. We ate … something.

 

Lord, let me sit a spell and forget trespasses and remember good things. AMEN

 

ANOTHER PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAY!

 

Sunday, May 24, 2026

 

ANOTHER PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAY!

 

Matt 24:37-39

37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

 

Memorial Day reminds me of an old song. “Pleasant Valley Sunday” is a song by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, most famous for the version recorded by The Monkees in 1967. Goffin’s and king’s inspiration for the name was a street named Pleasant Valley Way, in West Orange, New Jersey where they were living at the time. The road follows a valley through several communities among the Watchung Mountains. The lyrics were a social commentary on status symbols, creature comforts, life in suburbia and “keeping up with the Joneses.” (Source Wikipedia) Thoughtless consumerism is not a new phenomenon, and neither is social commentary although both did spike in the sixties.

 

Jesus predicted that “the coming of the Son of man” would take place during a time of lazy luxury. People would be focused on the common affairs of daily life and that these concerns would crowd out any thought of morality, God or eternity. Jesus never recommended the abandonment of daily activities or even times of celebration, but He did warn against an irreligious life.

 

As we light the grill and slice the watermelon, let us remember those who died to give us the freedoms we enjoy. As we go about our daily activities, let us glance occasionally at the cross and give thanks to the One who died to purchase our salvation.

 

Dear Lord, let me not be so consumed with consumerism that I forget to remember your sacrifice. AMEN